Assembly union protests alleged fraud
Former Director General of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF), Mallam Salihu Lukman, has likened the National Assembly to a parastatal of the Presidency.
In a statement in Abuja, yesterday, he said it was unfortunate that virtually all democratic structures expected to facilitate engagements with various governmental structures had been systematically and deliberately weakened under the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration.
He further alleged that virtually all registered political parties were, in one way or the other, being held to ransom with syndicated leadership crisis.
He said the APC, which produced President Tinubu, had been “demobilised”, saying none of the organs of the party were functioning with the exception of the National Working Committee (NWC).
The Kaduna-born politician also alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had been regressing as elections were becoming more and more predictable as circus shows.
He said it was a big irony that it was under APC and President Tinubu that Nigeria’s democracy was being undermined on a scale almost equivalent to what a military regime would have done when it overthrew an elected government.
“All the progress made following the Justice Mohammed Uwais’ Electoral Reform work of 2009 has been jettisoned. Even basic function of conferring legal recognitions to political associations with legitimacy to participate in electoral contests are being sacrificed or blocked,” he alleged.
MEANWHILE, the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), National Assembly chapter is facing a major crisis following allegations of financial mismanagement and lack of accountability by the association’s executive team, led by Sunday Sabiyi.
The controversy centres on alleged misappropriation of N3 billion in check-off dues, grants, subventions, and income from PASAN assets, spanning the last five years.
The aggrieved members staged a protest at the PASAN National Secretariat located in Jabi District, Abuja.
The protest grounded business activities at the plaza housing the PASAN National Secretariat as other tenants in the plaza had to close shops following the chaotic situation created by the protests.
The aggrieved protesters were seen carrying placards with inscriptions such as; ‘PASAN National do the right thing’, ‘CWC stop the illegalities’, ‘Call for Congress’, among others.
Addressing newsmen at the protest ground a member of the Congress Committee of the association, Yusuf Abiola, said the crisis, which had been simmering since 2019, escalated in mid-2024 when PASAN members raised concerns over the leadership’s financial practices.
He accused the leadership of being, corrupt, and negligent of members’ welfare.
This, he said, sparked widespread discontent among staff.
