- The bill was greeted with vehement opposition with Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe questioning the rationale behind it
The Nigerian upper legislative chamber, the senate, has stepped down a bill seeking tenure elongation for the Clerk of the National Assembly and others.
The bill, which seeks to extend the years of service from 35 years to 40, is part of the plot by some lawmakers to keep the current Clerk, Sani Tambuwal, who will be attaining the Nigerian Civil Service retirement age next year, in office.
The bill was sponsored by the Leader of the Senate, Michael Opeyemi, urging the upper legislative chamber to extend the tenure of the Clerk and other Directors in the administrative structure of the National Assembly.
The proposed legislation was titled: ‘A bill for an Act to make provisions for the retirement age of staff of National Assembly Service and for other related Matters, 2024.’
The bill was greeted with vehement opposition with Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe questioning the rationale behind it.
He wondered if staff of the National Assembly, who were employed by the National Assembly Service Commission, NASC, were different from staff in other agencies of government.
The former Deputy Governor of Abia State said the reason given by the sponsor of the bill, which emphasized on specialization, was flimsy and unreasonable. He insisted that there was nothing special about staff in National Assembly that would warrant the 10th Assembly doing the wrong thing.
Senator Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, lent credence to Abaribe’s assertion, warning that posterity would not be fair to the lawmakers if the interest of few individuals packaged in the bill was passed by the Senate.
In the same vein, Senator Zangon Daura Nasir Sani, Katsina North, openly opposed the bill and asked the Senate President to throw it out for want of merit.
He said the bill was being used to advance the interest of some personalities and the upper legislative should not be used to legitimize it.
“Mr President, my name is Senator Zangon Daura Nasir Sani representing Katsina North Senatorial District. I am opposing the bill because it seems to carry the interest of some powerful element and we should not be used to legitimize it.”
It’s gathered that few other lawmakers, who may have support for the bill, were not allowed to speak by those who opposed it, thereby causing commotion in the Senate.
Subsequently, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, declared the bill contentious and stepped it down indefinitely.
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