NASS staff paralyse activities,hours to 2019 budget presentation
By Legislative and business activities at the National Assembly were grounded on Monday, sequel to the commencement of 4-day warning strike declared by Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN).
Hundreds of National Assembly workers who arrived converged at 6.20am in line with the directive of PASAN’s executive blocked major entrances leading to the complex, thereby preventing bankers, workers, journalists ad other visitors from carrying out their statutory duties for the day.
The strike action is coming barely 48 hours to the presentation of the 2019 budget proposal to the joint session of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari is expected to be accompanied by members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) including Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Budget and National Planning; Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance; Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), among others.
The workers also said President Muhammadu Buhari would not be stopped from presenting the 2019 Appropriation Bill scheduled for Wednesday.
Addressing the protesting workers at the entrance to the complex, Odo Chris, said neither lawmakers, management staff from Grade Level 14 and above, nor visitors would be barred from the complex for the duration of the strike.
He said: “It is the members of the union that will not go to work, everybody else can go in and do whatever they want to do”.
“As a union, we don’t even have the power to stop Grade 14 officers and above from going in to perform their duties because they are not our members”.
“I am appealing to you to be careful and apply wisdom as we carry out this strike because we have a law that guides us all”.
“This is not picketing, there should be no fighting, there should be no breakdown of law and order.
“Right now, some of us will go in and shut off electricity supply, by the time the environment becomes unbearable for those that are working, they will leave as well”.
“The President can go in and present his budget if the place is conducive enough,” he urged.
While Sergeant -at-Arm joined the protesting workers, armed security personnel including mobile policemen, Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) are on ground to prevent breakdown of law and order, while officers of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were seen coordinating traffic.