CISLAC said it is aware of the recent circular titled Oath Of Secrecy signed by the Secretary, Human Resources and Staff Development on behalf of Clerk to the National Assembly, warning legislative staff and aides to abide by oath of secrecy in the Condition of Service by maintaining absolute secrecy on issues bothering their welfare; and refraining from leveraging social media in lending voices to governance.
This was disclosed in a statement signed by CISLAC Executive Director and Head of Transparency International in Nigeria, Auwal Ibrahim Musa.
The statement, said deliberate twisting of an oath of office to pressurizeaides and staff from exercising their fundamental human rights is a major violation of sections 34, 37 and 39 of the 1999 Constitutionwhich guarantee rights to dignity of human persons, private and family life, and freedom of expression and the press, respectively.
The statement also said it is disturbing that adequate welfare for the legislative staff and aides remains unattended despite huge budgetary allocation to the legislative aides, National Assembly Management and National Assembly Service Commission in 2021.
The group in the statement renewed its call for transparency and accountability of the management of overall budget appropriated to the National Assembly while calling on Legislative Staff and Aides to never be intimidated from leveraging various democratic platforms in galvanizing their views on governance.
