PASAN strike can’t stop NASS from sitting –Gbajabiamila

Leader of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila (APC-Lagos) has said that the ongoing strike by members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) will not stop the legislature from sitting.

Mr Gbajabiamila in an interview with journalists on Tuesday said that shutting down the National Assembly was tantamount to shutting down the nation.

The lawmaker added that the house would sit to pass a resolution to allow President Muhammadu Buhari to present the 2019 Appropriation Bill to the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

“Everybody has the right to strike, you cannot take that away from anybody, it is a constitutional right, it is almost a fundamental human right for you to down your tools but that’s where it ends.

“You down your tools but you cannot stop lawmakers from doing their work, that is totally out of the purview of strike.

“In fact, it is in our laws, the Legislative Privilege Act that nobody can stop a legislator from doing his work and it attracts certain punishment,” Gbajabiamila said.

The House Leader said that the lawmakers would protect the rights of the striking workers and that the right of lawmakers to sit must also be protected.

Gbajabiamila explained that the monies being demanded for by the striking workers had nothing to do with the legislators at the National Assembly since the Senate, the House of Representatives and the management have separate accounts and operate differently.

Policemen and operatives of Department of State Services (DSS) had barricaded the entrances of the National Assembly to the protesting workers early on Tuesday and allowed legislators into the building.