• Seek part-time legislature

Placard-wielding protesters yesterday thronged the major gate leading to the National Assembly(NASS) located in the three arms zone in Abuja demanding a 60 per cent slash in salaries and allowances for federal lawmakers and all political appointees in the country.

The protesters under the aegis of a civil society organization, Conscience Nigeria, also demanded that legislative business should be structured in a way that members carry out their task on a part-time basis considering the high cost of maintaining the National Assembly and frequent recess embarked on by federal lawmakers.

Also, hundreds of job applicants besieged the National Assembly seeking employment as aides to the lawmakers who yesterday reconvened for legislative duties in the two chambers of the parliament.

This is as the special ad-hoc committee on Welfare last week completed its task of allocation of offices for 360 members of the lower chamber who are expected to represent their constituencies for the next four years.

Meanwhile, the Senate yesterday disclosed that it would soon set up an 18- man ad-hoc committee to review the National Assembly’s budget.