Open to letter to Mr Speaker: Looming constitutional crisis in national assembly

BY TERSOO ADAGHER

Mr Speaker, I wish to humbly bring to your notice the palpable tension at the national assembly and the National Assembly Service Commission following the wrongful handing over of legislative duties to an administrative officer by the outgoing clerk of the national assembly Amos Ojo.

Ojo in his handover note violated provisions of NASS Act Cap N7 LFN 2004 and the Repeal NASS Act, 2014 which clearly stipulates the structure of administration and reporting line of the national assembly. It clearly states that; “There shall be a clerk of national assembly and such other staff as may be prescribed by an Act to the national assembly, and the method of appointment of the clerk and other staff of the NASS.”

The above constitutional injunction is actualised by the cumulative provisions of sections 6 (1) (b), 7(2) and 12 (1) of the National Assembly Service Act, 2014.

For the sake of emphasis, section 12 (1) provides that the staff of the national assembly shall comprise:
a- The Clerk of NASS
b- The Deputy Clerk NASS
C- The Clerk of the Senate
d- The Clerk of the House of Representatives
e- The Deputy Clerk of the Senate
f- The Deputy Clerk House of Representatives
h- The Directors and other Holders of other offices like the Secretariat recommended by the clerk of the National Assembly.

Going by the provisions of the law which derives its powers from the 1999 Constitution as amended, the outgoing clerk of the national assembly is expected to hand over to the most senior legislative officer in which the current clerk of the senate, by hierarchy, is next in command. In view of the fact that the deputy clerk of national assembly Bala Yabani has retired, therefore, the national assembly is constitutionally and statutory bound to appoint an acting or substantive clerk to the national assembly since November 14, 2022, when the former clerk commenced his pre-retirement leave.

It is constitutionally inconceivable that the NASS should operate without an acting or substantive clerk in the face of the imperative provision of section 51 of the constitution and the attendant National Assembly Service Act 2014.

However, Ojo being the number one legislative officer of Nigeria misled the National Assembly Service Commission by handing over to Sani Tambuwal, an administrative officer in the finance and administration secretariat, whom the National Assembly Service Commission now appointed as acting clerk of the national assembly. This act is in total violation of the letters and spirit of the constitution and the service Act of the national assembly.

The Act clearly stipulates that the National Assembly Sevice Commission’s mandatory function in the appointment of an acting or substantive clerk to the national assembly, shall be in strict compliance with the organogram as detailed above and cited in section 6 (1),7(2) and 12(1) of the National Assembly Service Act.

This constitutional breach is not unconnected to his earlier refusal to proceed on compulsory pre-retirement leave as enshrined in the Public Service Rule (PSR) 100238, which states that officers are required to proceed on three months pre-retirement leave from service before the effective date of retirement.

The outgoing clerk flagrantly abused the service rules and was asking the National Assembly Service Commission to allow him to stay in office till February 14, 2023. However, this did not go well with the speaker, house of representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who contacted the office of the head of service of the federation to clarify whether Ojo could decide not to proceed on a three-month terminal leave, which is reportedly billed to commence on Monday, or remain in active service till his retirement on February 14, 2023.

A letter from the office, which was addressed to the chief of staff to the speaker, dated November 11, 2022, with Reference Number HCSF/314/93, was titled, ‘Re: Enquiry of Pre-Retirement Leave of a Retiring Civil Servant’ and signed by the director of HOS, Adebayo Odejinmi, for the head of the civil service of the federation, Folashade Yemi-Esan.

The letter to the speaker reads in part: “I am directed to refer to your letter dated 10th November 2022 on the above subject, seeking clarification on pre-retirement leave.”

The wrongful handover to an administrative officer could spark a constitutional crisis in the country. It then behoves the National Assembly Service Commission to do the needful and correct the anomaly caused by the outgoing clerk and withdraw the wrongful appointment of Tambuwal as an acting clerk.

Adagher Tersoo, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abuja.