By Aaron Ossai
Appointment of Sani Magaji Tambuwal by the National Assembly Service Commission as the successor to the outgoing Clerk, Arch Amos Olatunde Ojo has been faulted by a public affairs analyst, Haruna Abdullahi Mohammed who described it as being in blatant violation of relevant sections of the National Assembly Service Commission Act 2014.
Quoting relevant sections of the Act and how they specify the manner in which officers can succeed an outgoing CNA, Mohammed pointed out how the choice of Tambuwal should be seen as a travesty of legal procedure by the Commission, saying that Tambuwal should be 6th in line behind five others who were allegedly surreptitiously bypassed by the Commission.
In a document made available to newsmen titled “Appointment of Clerk to the National Assembly: A Breach of the NASC Act, 2014,” Mohammed said the “Organogram of the National Assembly bureaucracy and line of duties as captured in sections 6(1), 7(2) and 12(1) of the National Assembly Service Act, 2014 shows that Mr. Sani Magaji Tambuwal is not qualified for appointment as Clerk to the National Assembly.”
“The Organogram of the National Assembly as shown in the Act shows that Magaji Tambuwal is number six in line and would not have been above the Clerks of Senate, House of Representatives and their Deputies who are recognized by the Act before Secretaries,” he said.
It would be recalled that Mr. Magaji Tambuwal who held sway as Secretary of Finance in the National Assembly was appointed to Act as Clerk following the directive by Engr. Kadi Amshi-led National Assembly Service Commission that Ojo should proceed on three months pre-retirement leave on November 14, 2022.
Another Secretary, Mr. Kamoru who is in charge of Legal department was also appointed as deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, an act viewed by Mohammed as total disregard to the provisions of the establishment Act which places Clerks of the Senate, that of the House and their deputies as more qualified and higher in ranks as succession candidates than Secretaries.
He therefore accused the Commission of lending credence to allegations of inducement by some powerful interest as alleged in a media report two weeks ago.
“The National Assembly Service Commission has once again assumed public media topicality based on its appointment of Sani Magaji Tambuwal as the Acting Clerk to the National Assembly on Friday, November 18, 2022.
“It is pertinent to note that Sani Magaji Tambuwal was the Secretary, Directorate of Finance and Accounts until his current appointment. The present scenario is a resonation of the same worrisome trend in which Ojo Olatunde Amos was appointed by the same Commission from his position as Secretary, Directorate of Procurement and Supplies to mount the saddle in July 2020, as Acting Clerk to the National Assembly.
“The National Assembly is an organ and institution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which is clothed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended) with the legislative competence of the entire federation.
“It is in appreciation of the fundamental role of National Assembly with respect to its bureaucracy, that the Constitution specifically created the office of the Clerk to the National Assembly and the National Assembly Service Commission, hence, section 51 of the 1999 Constitution categorically stated as follows:
,”There shall be a Clerk to the National Assembly and such other staff as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly, and the method of the appointment of the Clerk and other staff of the National Assembly shall be as prescribed by that Act”, he added.
