Fresh tension is brewing in the National Assembly as some concerned members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) have threatened to embark on peaceful picketing over what they described as unresolved welfare and constitutional issues affecting their members.

This is coming as the management of the National Assembly raised the alarm over plot by some staff to disrupt legislative activities upon resumption of plenary on Tuesday.

The aggrieved workers in their letter, dated October 3, 2025 and addressed to the Clerk to the National Assembly, accused the management of intimidation and harassment of staff who have continued to demand rule-driven unionism anchored on the provisions of the PASAN Constitution, 2015.

The letter, obtained by THISDAY on Saturday, was signed by Messrs M.C Odo, Yusuf Mohammed Abiola and Chinenye Peace Nda, on behalf of their colleagues.

They alleged that some members were being queried and threatened with suspension for their participation in union activities, particularly their insistence on the presentation of audited accounts of the chapter to congress, as stipulated in the union’s constitution.

The workers cited several provisions of the PASAN Constitution which mandate executive officers at both national and chapter levels to prepare annual budgets, circulate audited accounts and balance sheets, present financial proposals to congress, and ensure compliance with the laws of the country.

They argued that these provisions make accountability an obligation that must be upheld in the management of the chapter’s affairs.

They also expressed concerns over management’s decision to recognise the authority of executive officers earlier removed by the congress, insisting that such actions undermine internal democracy and due process within the union.

According to them, the matter goes beyond leadership tussles, as it touches on the wider principle of financial transparency and respect for constitutional provisions.

The aggrieved staff further expressed disappointment at what they described as the refusal of the authorities to attend to their long-standing welfare demands.

These include the correction of salary shortfalls, remittance of statutory deductions such as taxes, pensions and the National Housing Fund, full implementation of the Consolidated Legislative Salary Structure and the financial provisions of the Conditions of Service, as well as allowances relating to rent subsidy, leave, hazard and medicals.

They also called for the implementation of the 40 percent consolidated peculiar allowance approved in 2023 for federal workers, provision of official vehicles for directorate cadre staff, staff buses for junior cadres, the establishment of training templates, implementation of the National Assembly Service Pension Board (Establishment) Act, 2023, and the immediate application of the new minimum wage and its consequential adjustments.

Meanwhile, the management of the National Assembly has raised the alarm over plot by some staff to disrupt legislative activities upon resumption of plenary on Tuesday.

The management of the National Assembly said the planned picketing apart from its potential to disrupt legislative activities would constitute a threat to national security.

Secretary of Human Resources and Staff Development, Essien Eyo Essien, who disclosed this in an internal circular, he issued on behalf of the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Kamoru Ogunlana, called on all staff to ignore any “calls for industrial action, including “work-to-rule’ or ‘unlawful picketing.”

He equally enjoined the ‘Concerned PASAN Members’ to refrain from proceeding with their planned protest, “as failure to do so may result in severe disciplinary action.”

The circular reads in part: “The Management attention has been drawn to the online activities of Messrs Odo Chris (GL 13, Senate) and Abiola Yusuf Mohammed (GL 9, Human Resources Directorate) that appear to be collaborating with anonymous individuals within and outside the National Assembly, masquerading as ‘Concerned PASAN members.’

“Security report at our disposal disclose that these persons are mobilising and inciting staff to engage in an unlawful action termed ‘picketing.’

Sunday Aborisade

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