Former Aides of Lawan and Gbajabiamila Seek Assistance Over Unpaid Salaries
Legislative aides who served in the ninth National Assembly under the offices of the former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, and ex-Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, are decrying their 15 months of unpaid salaries.
In a plea addressed to President Bola Tinubu, the Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the affected aides are seeking intervention to recover their salaries allegedly diverted by the National Assembly Management.
The aggrieved group claims that the funds, designated for their payments under the tenure of the former Minister of Finance, Zaynab Ahmed, were redirected for “other purposes” by the National Assembly Management led by the Clerk, Magaji Tambuwal.
These former legislative aides, numbering 280, who served for two years, from May 2021 to June 2023, assert that they are owed salaries for 15 out of the 24 months of their service.
Efforts to address the issue through legitimate channels have reportedly been ignored by the National Assembly Management. In response, the affected staff, led by Sulaiman Abbas and Joseph Isah, have declared Friday and Sunday, November 17 and 19, 2023, as days of fasting and prayer. The prayer points will implore divine intervention to touch the hearts of the Clerk of the National Assembly and the current Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, to approve the payment of their overdue salaries.
In a statement, the conveners expressed their frustration, saying, “We have explored all available channels to seek payment of our salaries. And when you have someone mightier than you, inflicting pains and sorrows on you and your family, you must leave the fight for God to intervene. The reason for these two days fervent prayers.”
The affected staff have called on President Tinubu and the chairmen of the anti-corruption bodies, ICPC and EFCC, to uphold their oaths and ensure justice by facilitating the full payment of the withheld salaries. They believe that such intervention is necessary to alleviate the suffering caused by what they describe as a “dastardly act.”
