The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre has warned the management of the National Assembly against administering oath of secrecy on the staff of the National Assembly.
Executive Director, CISLAC and Head of Transparency International in Nigeria, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, in a statement, described as hostile, the recent circular titled ‘Oath of Secrecy’ signed by the Secretary, Human Resources and Staff Development.
He said this was an attempt by the management to gag the workers.
He stated: “We, without hesitation, note that deliberate twisting of an oath of office to pressurise or subdue staff/aides from exercising their fundamental human rights is a major violation of Sections 34, 37 and 39 of the 1999 Constitution which guarantee rights to dignity of human persons, private and family life, and freedom of expression and the press, respectively”.
He also urged the Office of Auditor-General of the Federation to audit the “implementation” of the allocations of N9.6bn, N15.9bn and N5.7bn appropriated to the legislative aides, the National Assembly Management and National Assembly Service Commission, respectively in 2021 which, he alleged, had not translated into “adequate welfare for the legislative staff/aides”.
Reacting, the Special Adviser to the Clerk of the National Assembly on Media and Labour, Adesoro Austin, said the oath of secrecy was to protect official documents from being abused.
He said: Nobody, no management is trying to make National Assembly staff not to do what is contrary to the required public service rule. You see, it is becoming rampant that staff are posting official documents on social media including official minutes on WhatsApp and various social media.”
