Jungle republic : Deputy Speaker’s Aide dies “over delayed salary”

Legislative Aides to lawmakers on Tuesday stages a wide protest in the National Assembly over delays in payment of their salaries and allowances.

The protesters who carried placards and obituary pictures said they were protesting the death of a legislative aide to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives Rep. Yusuff Lasun.

The protesters said that the aide, Hassan Abiodun died because he was unable to pay the sum of N165,000 as cost for surgery for appendicitis.

Speaking to newsmen during the protest, one of the aides,  Mr Dayo Faduba said that if the salary had not been delayed, the diseased would have afforded to pay the hospital dues.

He added that the late aide died when the appendix ruptured one day after the due date of his surgery and he eventually gave up on Friday June 9.

Reading a press statement signed by Lawson Oviasogie, Faduba said that the delay in salaries had become common since the commencement of the 8th National Assembly.

“We are here today with heavy hearts to mourn the untimely and unfortunate death of one of our colleagues, Hassan Abiodun (ltalo).“Even as we mourn, we see clearly that his death MAY have been averted. He died while waiting for salary to operate his appendicitis.“Hassan is a victim of a flawed and unjust system and the unjust conditions of Aides in the National Assembly,” he said.

The aides berated the management of the National Assembly for moving the payment account of the aides from a known national commercial bank to a “microfinance” bank “masquerading as a commercial bank”.

NAN reports that SunTrust Bank is registered as a Mortgage Bank.

He said that since the management of the National Assembly started operating with Sun Trust Bank, payment of had always been delayed.

He therefore also blamed the bank for the death of their colleage adding that if they had paid on time, Hassan may not have died. - NAN