Yes, N’Assembly Should Have Permanent Secretaries

Adesoro Tolu Austen counters claims in some quarters that the National Assembly does not need a crop of permanent secretaries

Recently, some self-appointed experts on the workings of the Public Service in Nigeria, came out ferociously to attack the clearly stated constitutional provisions, for the appointment of permanent secretaries for the National Assembly.

In what looked like a carefully scripted and well coordinated, but sporadic media campaigns, these so called veteran of the rules of engagement for the public service in Nigeria, fired reckless and spurious missiles against the inherent constitutional independence of the legislature.

Their arguments that the powers vested in the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), to facilitate the appointment of secretaries for the directorates ( permanent secretaries) is illegal, failed miserably, to take into cognisance what neccesitated the birth of the National Assembly Act of 2014.

Moving forward, it is expedient to ask what warranted the persistent agitations that awashed the polity, before the establishment of the National Assembly Act of 2004, which has given way to the now operational National Assembly Act of 2014.
Before delving into the baseless, selfish and retrogressive arguments adduced so far, by these profound enemies of the independence of the legislature in Nigeria, it is absolutely crucial to see what places it, distinctively from the other arms of government.

First, the legislature is an official body elected by the people in a sovereign set up like Nigeria. It has powers to make, change and repeal laws, as well as powers to control government and represent the constituent bodies.
The legislature is special from the rest critical arms of government, simply because it has inherent cum formal power to pass laws, which are implemented and interpreted by the executive and judicial sections.

The legislature is equally unique, in the sense that it is the electorates that are mandated to elect them into office, periodically for the purpose of representing their constituents in a geographical entity.
Therefore, members of the legislature shoulder unique responsibilities, as they represent the collective will of the society. Explicitly, the pegislature perform three sacred general duties. One it deliberate over any and all issues of concern to the society; two, it creates legal and budgetary framework that guide how those issues should be addressed; thirdly, the legislature conducts oversight functions on programmes enacted by the executive angle of government.

As an addendum, the legislature responds to informal requests from constituents, that is to say that, law makers perform additional duties of shaping public understanding of the multi- farious cum diverse range of matters.
As trustees of the people, and being constantly accountable to them, the National Assembly Act of 2014, which became operational on the 30th of June, of the same year, became absolutely neccesary, given the way previous military/ civilian governments, even after 1999, had attempted to bastardise, stagnate, and cripple the omnipotent powers and significant of the legislature, in Nigeria’s democratic firmament.

The biggest positive development that has happened to the parliamentary system or pegislature in Nigeria, is candidly the watershed establishment of the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC).
As a body which the National Assembly bureacracy is primarily accountable, the National Assembly Service Commission is empowered by Section 6 (2) as amended to oversee the administrative matters of the National Assembly, in terms of appointments, promotions and disclpline.

Functions of the Commission in (Section VII) of the NASC states that ‘Secretaries to the Directorates and (VIII) holders of other offices that shall be created by the Commission on the recommendation of the Clerk.”

That is to say that the National Assembly Service Commission has the statutory powers to appoint ‘Secretaries to the Directorates’ which are equivalent to the ‘Permanent Secretaries’, in the main stream public service in Nigeria.

It is very clear that the National Assembly Service Commission, was set up primarily to ‘reorganise the management and administrative structure of the National Assembly’, because previous statutory provisions or arrangement with the main stream public service, failed woefully and miserably, to stabilize and solidify, the legislature in Nigeria, to play its critical cum frontal role, as stipulated in the principles enstrined in the doctrine of seperation of powers.

In setting up the National Assembly Service Commission, the originators/ drafters of the 2014 Act, exhaustively took cognisance of the input of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in the appointment of Secretaries for the Directorates for the National Assembly.

This glaring fact is reproduce thus:” The President of the Senate shall, upon consultation with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, submit to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a proposed list of which the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, shall nominate for appointment, a Chairman and members of the Commission”

By having a hand in the setting up of the National Assembly Service Commission, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who cannot be physically everywhere, has made his input, leaving the technocrats and professionals within the National Assembly bureacracy, such as the ‘Clerk to the National Assembly’, to complete the process of appointments of Secretaries to the Directorates.

Section 158 (Il) of the 1999 Constitution says unambiguously that the NASC is sacrosanct in the affairs of the National Assembly; Section 4 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, gives the National Assembly authority, to conduct it own affairs; Section 4 (2) empowers the National Assembly to make laws for the peace and order, and good of the Federation; Section 1 & 4 of the same Constitution places the National Assembly as a symbol of democracy and first arm of government.

The recent call for the derecognision, suspension or repeal of the 2014 Act, setting up of the National Assembly Service Commission, by those public service gurus, is most unfortunate, unpatriotic and retrogressive, given the years of strenuous struggles and debilitating processes that dotted it eventual birth.
The position of retired top level civil servants, that the Head of Service is supposed to supervise an arm like the National Assembly does not hold water.

A desperate evil attempt to cripple NASC’s Secretaries to the Directorates, which is equivalent to the ‘Permanent Secretaries’ in the Federal Civil Service, will never fly.
The National Assembly is independent, so, the Head of Service has no constructional power to dictate to a separate autonomous arm of government in Nigeria.

The National Assembly Service Commission (NASC), is the best thing that has happened to the legislative arm of government in Nigeria; it has powers to appoint ‘Secretaries to the Directorates’ and other officers, including the ‘Clerk to the National Assembly’.
Talking about the Clerk to the National Assembly, Section 51 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, States that :” There shall be a Clerk to the National Assembly, and any other staff as may be prescribed by the act of the National Assembly (Parliament), and the method of appointment of the Clerk and any other staff of the National Assembly shall be prescribed by the Act of the National Assembly.”

Can the Head of Service dictate to the National Judiciary Commission or National Judicial Council ( NJC)? Certainly no, because it is an independent arm of government like the legislature.
In Kenya, for instance, there is what they call: “The Parliamentary Service and the Parliamentary Service Commission, which has powers to “(a) constitute and abolish offices in the Parliamentary Service; “(b) to appoint persons to hold or act in the offices in the service ( including power to confirm appointments)”
In Kenya, the Public Service Commission in Section 5 of the Kenyan Constitution states that :” The Commission is accountable to the National Assembly.”

Talking about entrenching the independence of the National Assembly, the establishment of the National Assembly Pension Service Board, is overdue; this will not only accelerate the process of staff of the National Assembly getting their exiting payments on time, but, remove them from the traumatic experience being experienced presently.
Those who are shouting their voices hoarse, to undermine International best practices in parliamentary democracy, which a glaring example, is the National Assembly Act of 2014, must be ignored, for they do not mean well for the health of the National Assembly.

QUOTE

It is very clear that the National Assembly Service Commission, was set up primarily to ‘reorganise the management and administrative structure of the National Assembly’, because previous statutory provisions or arrangement with the main stream public service, failed woefully and miserably, to stabilize and solidify, the legislature in Nigeria

* Adesoro is the Special Adviser on media and labour to the Clerk to the National Assembly