NASS Considers Special Salary Structure for Legislative Aides …moves to protect their appointments from arbitrary termination

By Iyojo Ameh

The National Assembly on Tuesday disclosed plans to create a distinct salary structure for Legislative Aides serving the 469 federal lawmakers in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, totaling over 300,000 personnel.

Beyond the issue of salaries tailored to meet the peculiar financial needs of legislative aides, the Assembly is also seeking measures to protect their appointments from arbitrary termination by their principals.

Speaking at a three-day capacity-building training organized for Legislative Aides at the A-Class Event Centre, the Clerk to the National Assembly, Barrister Kamoru Ogunlana, stressed the need to tackle challenges facing aides in order to improve their efficiency and, by extension, enhance the performance of federal lawmakers.

“We are not unaware of the challenges you face. Although Legislative Aides are political appointees, your conditions of service are tied to the template of career civil servants, which does not fully address your peculiar needs,” Ogunlana said.

“Unlike career civil servants, your appointments do not guarantee job security. Tenure is largely dependent on your principals, and ranking is often not based on qualifications or competence. Furthermore, there is no comprehensive law or guideline clearly defining the duties and responsibilities of the various cadres of Legislative Aides. This leaves gaps that sometimes expose you to arbitrary decisions and unfair treatment.

“The present management believes it is time to address these systemic issues. We are advocating that the National Assembly Service Commission and the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission should consider creating a distinct salary structure and conditions of service that reflect the unique nature of your work.

“We also believe that qualifications for appointments should be reviewed to attract competent and experienced personnel. Equally important is the need for mechanisms to prevent arbitrary termination of appointments by principals.”

In his remarks, the Chairman of the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), Saviour Enyiekere, urged Legislative Aides to strive to be more knowledgeable and skillful than their principals in order to strengthen legislative outputs at both chambers.

Categories of aides participating in the three-day training include Chiefs of Staff to the four Presiding Officers of the National Assembly, their Special Advisers, and Senior Legislative Aides (SLAs) to federal lawmakers, among others.