Buhari's planned presentation of budget on Wednesday threatened by National Assembly staff strike

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari's planned presentation of the 2019 budget to the National Assembly on Wednesday is under threat after staff at the complex announced a four-day strike starting from tomorrow to protest unpaid allowances.

Nigerian legislators are among the highest paid in the world, with senators entitled to monthly expenses of N13.5m ($37,500) in addition to their monthly salaries of more than $2,000. Annually, senators take home about $55,000 a year, while members of the House of Representatives earn about $42,000.

Despite this, workers at the National Assembly complex are owed salary arrears, so the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (Pasan) has decided to stage a protest over unpaid salaries and allowances. Pasan has announced a four-day strike starting from tomorrow, which could scupper President Buhari's budget presentation which is due on Wednesday December 19.

President Buhari had written to the leadership of National Assembly so say that he would be presenting the 2019 budget proposal to a joint session at 11am on Wednesday. Last week, the workers had to be placated by the leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives to shelve their initial strike action after denying lawmakers access to the chambers while paralyzing all official duties that day.

Clerk to the National Assembly Muhammed Sani-Omolori, blamed the Federal Ministry of Finance for the debacle, saying its failure to release budgetary allocations makes it impossible to implement the new salary regime for the workers, among other demands. However, Pasan discovered over N10b in the National Assembly’s Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) accounts, so has decided to proceed with the action.

According to the union, it has become obvious that the National Assembly management had no intention of fulfilling their agreement. However, Hon Abdulrazak Namdas, the chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs,  appealed to the workers, saying the strike would have a negative impact on the presentation of the 2019 budget.

He added: “What we are appealing for now is for the workers to continue to be very understanding. The budget is to be presented by Wednesday, we all know the possible implication on the entirety of Nigerians if the document is not presented on that day.”