NASS SALARY ARREARS: Since I posted the quoted tweet below, there has been a lot of debate around this issue. Some have, predictably, politicised the issue. Others have been genuinely intrigued as to who is responsible. I’ll try to throw some light on the issue. Thread...
Apart from legislators, several people work at the National Assembly to support the institution. Some are legislative aids appointed by the legislators. These ones are personal staff of the legislators. Their jobs end once the legislators leave office. Special Assistants.
Others are permanent staff recruited by the National Assembly Service Commision. They are the bureaucrats that run the National Assembly. They handle procurement, make sure things work, help to prepare Bills, keep records and documents, etc. Their boss is the Clerk of NASS.
The NASC was established by the NASC Act of 2004. Section 7(8) clearly says that the Commission has the power to pay its staff such remuneration as may be approved by NASS. In the rest of the public service, remuneration is approved by RMFAC or Salaries and Wages Commission. 
In exercise of this power, NASS decided to DOUBLE the salaries of the bureaucrats. That meant that fresh graduates would get about N120,000 per month, instead of N50,000 that regular civil servants get. The question is: Whete will the money come from?
We'll continue later.
Section 14 of the NASC Act says that NASS shall establish a fund for the commission and that provision shall be made in the annual budget of the NASS. In legal drafting, the word “shall” means “must.” Subsection 3 says that it is from this fund that salaries are to be paid.
We’ll continue later.
Let’s now continue the thread on the NASS Salary arrears. Now, membership of the NASC is appointed by the President. The Commission then appoints the Ckerk of NASS, who is responsible for administration and finance. In public service parlance, the Clerk is the ‘Accounting Officer
Just like the Perm Sec in a Ministry, it is the Clerk that prepares the annual budget for approval by NASS. Don’t forget that it is the responsibility of NASS to appropriate funds and that, Constitutionally, no money can be spent except as directed by NASS.
Every year, the Clerk prepares the NASS budget in consultation with NASS principal officers: the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Reps. It is from this budget that a fund must be created to pay for salaries of NASS members, legislative aides and NASC staff.
The Senate President acknowledged in this newspaper report that the responsibility for the salaries of the bureaucrats rests with NASS. This responsibility should not be confused with the power to appoint which rests with Mr President. See here: google.com/amp/s/leadersh…
For ease of reference, this is the excerpt where the Senate President admitted responsibility for the payment of the salaries. This responsibility is jointly and severally that of the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Reps. @I_Am_Ilemona should please note this.
Now, since 2010 when the new salaries were approved by NASS according to the NASC Act 2000, it appears that the NASS Budget has been covering the rather generous budget for NASS members, that of legislative aides and the OLD SALARY of the bureaucrats, not the new salaries.
The difference between the old salaries and the new approved salaries is the arrears that have now accrued, which the bureaucrats are now agitating for. The current Clerk claims that it was put in the 2018 budget but it has not been released. Let us now deconstruct this.
As I said earlier, NASS funds are a first line charge on the Treasury. If the funds were included in the NASS funds, it would have come out with the rest of the funds as a first line charge. It appears that this had not been done in the 7 years between 2000 and 2017.
Because the Clerk prepares the NASS budget, the staff feel it is his fault. Rather than put it in the global NASS Budget, it appears that the arrears was included in the 2018 budget as a separate line item. This would be odd, as it should have come out of the NASC Fund of NASS.
The NASC Fund from which salaries are to be paid MUST be created by NASS and funded from its budget. That’s the law. Nothing to do with the a Executive. The issue of release of funds does not arise, as NASS funds are a first line charge on the Treasury, as I said before.
What seems clear, therefore, is that the Clerk did not cater for the arrears in NASS budgets since 2000 and that NASS did not appropriate for it in the NASC Fund all these years.The responsibility for the salaries is that of NASS, as apparently admitted by the Senate President.
Although he correctly admitted responsibility for the arrear, in accordance with the law, the Senate President would normally expect that the Clerk has included all issues of salaries in the NASS Budget. The staff hold the Clerk responsible for this not happening.
So, in terms of whom to blame, it is my opinion that the Clerk of the National Assembly was derelict in his duties. In terms of who is responsible though, it is the Senate President & the Speaker of the House of Reps who are responsible for the NASC Fund. Hope this helps. End!✌🏽
