Decision to exempt NASS staff from contributory pension scheme suffers setback in House of Representatives

The House of Representatives rejected a bill to create the National Assembly Service Pension Board.

The Bill, sponsored by Cook Olododo (SDP, Kwara), seeks to amend the Pension Reform Act 2014 to exempt National Assembly staff from the contributory pension scheme.

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During the third reading of the bill on Wednesday, Deputy Chairman of the House Pensions Committee Bamidele Salami (PDP, Osun) raised a point of order, noting that the committee had no no public hearing on the bill. .

He said removing NASC staff from the central pension plan would lead to their demise, as several other agencies made similar demands but were denied.

“The Pensions Committee considered similar claims from members of the Nigerian Police, Customs, Immigration and Prisons. contributory retirement can lead to the collapse of the whole system.

"I don't see the need to exempt the National Assembly because it will open the door for different sectors to demand the regime's withdrawal," Salami said.

Another committee member, Ben Mzondu (PDP, Benue), said the committee requested funds to hold a public hearing, but the president's office did not respond to the request.

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“We are making laws for the country. The law before you is under scrutiny because the correct procedure was not followed. This bill was referred to the Committee and we did a request for money for a public hearing, this request was not granted,” he said.

He claimed that the committee had not been given the stipulated 60-day deadline before the bill was sent to committee of the whole.

Mr. Mzondu's claim is false because the bill was returned on June 30 and the committee was removed from office on November 23, after a motion was tabled by the chairman of the committee of the House of Rules and Affairs, Abubakar Fulata (APC, Jigawa).

During the debate, the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, blamed the discharge of the committee, saying that the rule for discharging a committee should not be selective, especially on such a sensitive issue as retirement.

“There cannot be one rule for one committee and another for other committees. There are so many committees which, after three, four, seven months, still have not submitted their reports. This motion should have included them. You can't just pick this one,” Mr. Gbajabiamila said.

He also confirmed that the committee had requested funds, but the request had not been answered due to a lack of funds.

Mr Gbajabiamila's position did not go down well with his deputy, Idris Wase, who chaired the session when the committee was dismissed.

Mr. Wase said the speaker's stance makes the duo seem split. According to the vice-president, the Chamber followed the procedure of the Rules of Procedure to discharge the committee.

He added that several other committees have been dismissed. For him, the excuse is not tenable.

"I presided over the day this motion was taken. The motion was taken while the deputies were seated. I disagree with this procedure. In the past, even yesterday, we have dismissed some committees that hadn't done their job. It's not the first time we've done this," Wase said.

"I don't want it to feel like we're divided, for whatever reason, if you ever preside, I can come up and say ABC you did, they were done wrong. < /p>

"Is this how we should do it? This is where we are going," he said.

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The sponsor of the bill, Mr Olododo, in his contribution, said Mr...