BY AHMED AKANBI
The Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Barrister Kamoru Ogunlana, on Tuesday, disclosed that the National Assembly, on daily basis, houses over 14,000 workforce comprising career civil servants and legislative aides.
The CNA, who gave the statistics in his speech at the last phase of Capacity-Building Training for Legislative Aides in the 10th National Assembly, said the over 14,000 workforce is not inclusive of the 469 federal lawmakers and the crowd of visitors who visit them daily, making the Nigeria Parliament the busiest in the world.
This is even as he reiterated the need for a special salary scale for the legislative aides who, according to him, are a critical component of the engine room of legislation.
“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.
“Within the last three years of the 10th Assembly, a total of 3,500 bills have been passed by both Chambers, 1,500 by the Senate and 2,000 by the House of Representatives,“ the CNA stated.
Apparently worried that his call for a special salary scale for legislative aides last year has not been hearkened to by relevant authorities, the CNA in his speech reiterated the call by specifically calling on the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) and the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to do the needful.
“There is need to streamline the responsibility of the NASC and RMAFC in determining the salaries and condition of service of legislative aides.
“NASC is the institutional authority responsible for the appointment and administration of Legislative Aides, while the remuneration structure operates within the framework developed/approved with RMAFC and is subject to approval by the National Assembly.
“It is settled that the appointment of Legislative Aides is temporary and non-pensionable, but is it a fulltime or part-time appointment?
“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.
“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,” he added.
Osun poll: Dangote, Akpabio called me to delete tweets — Davido
Afrobeats star, David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido, has disclosed that top political and business leaders, including Senate President Godswill Akpabio and billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote, reached out to him to delete his viral social media updates during the Osun State governorship election.
As reported by Punch, Davido, who spoke during an exclusive interview on News Central TV on Tuesday, opened up about the intense pressure behind the scenes during the vote-monitoring exercise.
Davido alleged that political opponents deployed massive financial resources, estimating that over ₦110 billion in cash was brought into the state to manipulate the election outcome.
“I just confirmed today. They spent N110 billion. I’m coming from somewhere where we had an insider who was sending us… If you see the cash these people brought in. If they had gotten away with that election, Nigeria is finished. Because the blueprint for election will now be violence and money,” he stated.
Reflecting on his family’s strategy, the singer emphasised that the team relied entirely on public support and voter vigilance rather than financial inducements at polling units.
“We didn’t spend a dime on election day. All we could do was just pray that these people take their money and vote for us,” he said.
“It got to a point where it was the Osun people that were beating the people that were trying to seize ballots. People are tired,” he added.
Addressing the high-profile calls he received as results were being tallied, the musician revealed that he refused appeals to take down his updates on X (formerly Twitter), where he was tracking polling unit results and highlighting delays.
“I heard the Senate President was trying to call the collation centre… They were calling me to delete. I said sorry o. You guys have literally just gone against my uncle… I can’t delete anything. Uncle Aliko called me too. I said, “Uncle, I’m not deleting until the INEC announcement,” he revealed.
Davido maintained that the victory of his uncle, Governor Ademola Adeleke, demonstrates the power of popular support over financial and political influence.
“My uncle should be an example to all other government officials and governors. When you stand by the people, the people will stand by you,” he stated.
Davido’s involvement in Osun State politics stems from his close ties to his family’s political dynasty in the state. His late uncle, Senator Isiaka Adeleke, popularly known as “Serubawon, served as the first civilian governor of Osun State in 1992, while his uncle, Ademola Adeleke, is the current governor.