•National Assembly Complex, Abuja
The National Assembly is carrying a staggering administrative burden, with more than 14,000 personnel operating within its complex daily, the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Kamoru Ogunlana, has disclosed.
Ogunlana, who spoke yesterday at the final phase of the Capacity- Building Training for Legislative Aides in the 10th National Assembly, said the figure excludes the 469 federal lawmakers and the huge stream of visitors who troop into the National Assembly daily, reports Daily Independent.
He consequently described the Nigerian parliament as one of the busiest parliamentary establishments in the world, stressing that the sheer volume of personnel, legislative activities and daily visitors had made the administrative responsibility of the Clerk exceptionally demanding.
According to him, the National Assembly has also processed a staggering 3,500 bills within the first three years of the 10th Assembly, with the Senate accounting for 1,500 while the House of Representatives handled 2,000.
“No parliament in the world is as busy as the National Assembly which has over 14,000 personnel aside the federal legislators and their visitors, making the job of its Clerk to be the most demanding in terms of administrative coordination,” Ogunlana said.
But beneath the massive legislative workload, the CNA raised fresh concerns over the welfare and professional status of legislative aides, insisting that the time had come for the federal government to establish a special salary structure for them. Ogunlana renewed his appeal to the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to resolve the lingering ambiguity surrounding the salaries and conditions of service of legislative aides.
“There is need to streamline the responsibility of the NASC and RMAFC in determining the salaries and condition of service of legislative aides,” he said.
The CNA explained that while NASC remains the institutional authority responsible for the appointment and administration of legislative aides, their remuneration operates within a framework developed and approved with RMAFC and subject to approval by the National Assembly.
He also questioned the existing classification of legislative aides, particularly whether their appointments should be regarded as full-time or part-time engagements, given the intensity and demands of their duties.
“It is settled that the appointment of legislative aides is temporary and non-pensionable, but is it a fulltime or part-time appointment?” he queried.
Ogunlana argued that the unresolved issues surrounding remuneration and conditions of service were not merely matters of personal welfare, but directly connected to the quality and effectiveness of legislative business.
He said reforms in the system must be designed to strengthen the capacity of legislative aides to effectively support lawmakers while building a professional legislative support service capable of attracting and retaining highly qualified personnel.
“These reforms are aimed not only at improving the welfare of Legislative Aides, but also to strengthen their capacity to provide support to their principals,” he said.
The CNA stressed that the ultimate objective must be to create a professional legislative support system capable of attracting “the best and brightest minds” and individuals of proven character and moral integrity.
“Whatever reform we undertake, the goal should remain the development of a professional legislative support service that attracts and retains the best and brightest minds, as well as individuals of exemplary character and moral probity,” Ogunlana added.
