The National Assembly has been thrown into a quandary over the failure of the Clerk to the National Assembly, Ojo Olatunde to transmit power to the highest officer in his absence.
Our correspondent reliably gathered that Olatunde while in an official assignment outside the country allowed his deputy, Bala Yabani who was supposed to be on pre-retirement leave to act in his absence.
According to a letter obtained by this newspaper and acknowledged and approved by Olatunde, the deputy clerk was due to proceed on three months pre-retirement leave starting on the 18th of August, 2022.
A source within the facility who preferred not to be named confirmed the development to this newspaper.
The source said, “The Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, Bala Yabani, was due to proceed on three months pre-retirement leave on 18th of August, 2022. But he is still in the office acting for the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), who is on an official trip abroad.
“The Clerk to the National Assembly may have tacitly encouraged his retired deputy to stay put by handing over the office to him on 17th August, 2022 to oversee, rather than handing over to the next officer in the hierarchy, even when he, the Clerk to the National Assembly knew fully well that the Deputy Clerk ought to proceed on pre-retirement leave on 18th August.
” This development is causing unease in the National Assembly and could snowball into a crisis, if not immediately nipped in the bud by the National Assembly Service Commission insisting that the Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly do immediately proceed on three month’s pre-retirement leave,” the source said.
