By Adamu Yusuf
National Assembly has warned against external interference in the promotion of its staff, insisting that appointments and promotions must be based on merit as stipulated in it’s act and the applicable Scheme of Service.
The Clerk to the Assembly, Kamoru Ogunlana, made the submissions while delivering his speech at the commencement of a three-day retreat for top management of the National Assembly and the National Assembly Service Commission held at Abuja.
Ogunlana stressed that the National Assembly Service was a professional institution whose personnel must be appointed, promoted and developed in accordance with the provisions of the law.
He warned that promotions influenced by considerations outside the established legal framework could lead to judicial challenges, administrative embarrassment and institutional instability.
Ogunlana said such consequences would not be limited to the individuals involved but could affect the entire service.
According to him, subordinating seniority, relevant experience and competence to considerations such as an officer’s place of origin could result in positions being occupied by individuals without the necessary capacity to perform effectively.
“The result can be an institution with too many people in positions and too few people with the capacity to perform effectively those positions,” the Clerk said.
On staff training, Ogunlana called for greater reliance on NILDS, citing its institutional capacity and the need to make effective use of scarce resources.
He noted that personnel required continuous training in legislative practice, parliamentary procedure, policy analysis, research, digital technologies, public financial management, ethics, leadership and emerging global practices in parliamentary administration.
Ogunlana described the existing ad hoc training arrangements as unsustainable, given the service’s limited financial resources, and urged management to make more deliberate use of NILDS as the central professional platform for staff development.
In his goodwill message, the Executive Chairman of NASC, Chief Saviour Enyiekere, reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to building a disciplined, competent, responsive and forward-looking legislative service that recognises merit, respects due process and gives appropriate attention to staff welfare.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, were represented at the ceremony.
Editing by Khadija Kubau
