National Assembly: Fear Grips Prospective Aides Over Appointment Letter

2 mins read

Applicants who have submitted their names to federal lawmakers for appointment as legislative aides have started expressing worry over their chances of securing employment.

Investigations by our correspondent revealed that the National Assembly management had yet to issue appointment letter to any of the prospective aides.

 It was learnt that apart from aides of returning lawmakers who have secured the assurances of their bosses, scores of others are still waiting for the management to start issuing employment letters to determine their fate.

 Attempts to speak with the management through the Director of Information, Rawlings Agada, failed on Friday as calls made to his mobile phone did not connect.

 He had also yet to reply to the text message sent to him as of the time of filing this report.

However, a former spokesperson for the Senate, who represents Niger North Senatorial District, Sabi Abdullahi, confirmed to our correspondent that the National Assembly management had yet to issue letters to the prospective aides.

 Asked why the prospective aides could not access their offices, Abdullahi, who is also a member of the Senate ad-hoc committee on welfare, said, “None of the aides has received appointment letters; so, they cannot complain about not having access to offices.”

 Further findings indicated that hopes of many of the applicants who are expecting letters from the management might be dashed as their names might not be in the list sent by the lawmakers to the National Assembly management.

 A graduate of secretarial studies, who applied for the position of a confidential secretary, Caroline Adokwe, told our correspondent on Friday she was already confused with the turn of events.

 She said, “I submitted my details to the representative from my constituency and the lawmaker told me that management would issue me a letter of appointment.

 “My fear is that I learnt that others applied for the same position and were told the same thing.”

Another applicant, Bitrus Simon, who worked as a legislative aide with a lawmaker from the North Central geopolitical zone in the 8th National Assembly, also expressed mixed feelings about the employment issue on Friday.

 He said, “My boss lost his bid to return but he has recommended me to one of his friends that won his election.

 “The only problem is that I am not sure whether my name was among the list he sent to the management because I have been seeing many job seekers around him.”