Legislators suspend sitting as National Assembly workers begin strike

*Workers seal NASS entrance, cut off electricity, water supplies Barring any new development, lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives will have their plenary suspended while the ongoing four days sit at home industrial action by staff of the National Assembly last. The workers under the umbrella of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) yesterday made good their threat to embark on a four-day strike as activities around the NASS section of the Three Arms Zone of the seat of power were paralysed. The workers who are demanding mainly for the payment of arrears of 28% increase in their salaries since 2010 stormed the National Assembly in the early hours of Monday blocking all entrance into the complex. The workers have also cut off essential services like power and water supply; effectively crippling any form of activity within the premises. The aggrieved workers had two weeks ago shutdown the National Assembly stopping lawmakers from sitting; blaming the Management of the National Assembly for their plight and insisting on the removal of the Clerk of the National Assembly, Sani Omolori. Although no official statement has come from the management as at the time of filing this report; the Clerk had clearly dropped the blame at the door steps of the executive when he said there has been no releases to implement the worker’ wage increase captured in the 2018 budget. Tunde Opalana, Abuja