Retiring top civil servants in the National Assembly will not get tenure extensions, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has declared.
Akpabio spoke on Monday while reacting to a practice whereby top civil servants who are due for retirement often elongate their tenure by staying longer than the mandatory 60 years of age or 35 years in service, whichever comes first.
To drive home his point, Akpabio called on the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) to ensure that civil servants serving at the National Assembly do not stay a day longer than necessary.
Addressing the outgoing chairman and members of the NASC in his office, Akpabio said, “Mr Chairman and members of the National Assembly Service Commission, your visit to me today for formal notification of the end of your tenure is one of the mixed feelings.
“Mixed feelings in the sense that it is sad to miss a very experienced hand like you but, at the same time, happy that you ended well after five years in office.
“However, since you are handing over to the Secretary of the Commission, pending the time myself and the Hon. Speaker of the House of Representatives will make recommendations for new Chairman and members, lapses observed within the last few years must be made.
“One of such lapses is the reluctance of some clerks, either to the National Assembly, the Senate or the House of Representatives, to exit office at the expiration of their years of service and even lethargy on the part of the commission to ensure enforcement at the appropriate time against such elongated service-seeking bureaucrats.
“Toleration of such behaviour or acts from sit-tight bureaucrats by NASC brought unnecessary politics into the system with attendant factionalization of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) and threats by some people to take the leadership of the National Assembly to ‘Berekete Radio,’ otherwise called Human Rights Radio, forgetting that Nigeria has not established human rights radio.
“Politicisation of tenure or years of service of staff of the National Assembly is due to actions and inactions of NASC, which must be stopped by sticking to provisions of letters of appointment issued.
“Refusal to proceed on terminal leave by some clerks, Secretaries or directors are clear cases of years of service elongation, which must be enforced by NASC.
“In the light of this, an amendment will be made to the establishment act of NASC so that its secretary will work hand in hand with the leadership of the National Assembly for a more disciplined service delivery system.”
Earlier, the outgoing Chairman of NASC, Ahmed Kadi Amshi, told the Senate President that he and five out of the six National Commissioners of the commission will be ending their service on the 7th of February, 2025, having assumed office on February 7, 2020.
He said the commissioner representing the South East in the commission will remain in office till 14th October 2026, since he was appointed on 15th October 2021.
