NASS directors, deputies grumble as CNA patronises permanent secretaries in monthly imprest allocation

Barely 72 hours after the management of the National Assembly succeeded in getting the workers’ union to suspend its proposed strike, a fresh muttering is threatening to snowball into a conflict among members of top management.

At the centre of the muttering is the discriminatory allocation in imprest to permanent secretaries, directors and their deputies by the Clerk to the National Assembly, CNA, Architect Amos Ojo.

Concerns have been raised  by some directors and their deputies about the wide disparity in imprest.

It was learnt that permanent secretaries are allocated N2m each as monthly imprest. There are thirteen of them in the service of NASS.

Advertisement

On the other hand, directors, who are the engine room of their respective department or directorate are allocated a paltry N150,000 as monthly imprest. There are seventy directors on the NASS bureaucracy.

While the permanent secretaries are merely appointive and largely ceremonial, the directors are involved in the nitty-gritty of policy initiation, formulation and execution of policies and programmes.

Deputy directors get N70,000 as monthly imprest to run their offices.

The Conclave gathered from a source who is familiar with the development that it was affecting the enthusiasm of most directors and their deputies.

What this translates to on monthly basis is that whereas the imprest of 13 permanent secretaries accounts for N26 million monthly, the imprest of 70 directors accounts for 10.5 million of the monthly financial expenditure of the management.

In addition to the princely monthly imprest, the permanent secretaries are each entitled to a 2020 model of Toyota Camry/Prado automobile.

There festering issues around the procurement and distribution of the vehicles as it was alleged that some permanent secretaries have yet to take delivery of their vehicles because of change in specifications.

There were claims that some of the vehicles procured were 2018 model instead of 2020 model agreed.

This is even as many directors have yet to be given vehicles to facilitate their official assignments.

There were feelers that if these concerns are not quickly nipped in the bud, they could lead to low performance and commitment to service.

A junior officer said such development was capable of negatively affecting loyalty, patriotism and dedication to service.

He said: “These permanent secretaries don’t sit for exams; yet they get so much. Unlike in the mainstream public service, they don’t write promotion exams to be appointed. The CNA only recommends them to the National Assembly Service Commission which appoints them into the elitist position.”

Recall that under the leadership of the immediate past CNA, Alhaji Mohammed Ataba Omolori, the imprest for permanent secretaries was N1.5 million while the directors and their deputies earned what they are earning now.

Before the amendments to the NASC Act that threw up the permanent secretaries during the administration of Salisu Maikasuwa, the CNA that handed over to Omolori, directors were kings as each department, according to an unconfirmed information, was receiving N15 million as quarterly subvention including imprest.