Clerk for the national assembly, Amos Ojo, has emphasised the importance of official secrecy in the service of legislative bureaucracy.
This is just as the management of the national assembly urged Nigerians to protect the legislature as the symbol of democracy all over the world.
Ojo spoke in Abuja at the opening ceremony of a three-day workshop for staff of the House of Representatives with the theme: “Legislative work ethics and behavioral conduct at work place”.
He said, “Training and development of employees assist both the organisation and employees in attaining diverse goals, such as improving morale, sense of security, employee engagement and overall competencies.
“The legislature is the first among the three arms of government – the legislature, executive and the judiciary. These arms are characterised by the principle of separation of power as each is supposed to be independent of the other. The Legislature derives its powers from the 1999 Constitution (as amended) in Sections 4(1) and 4(2). The Legislature is vested with the powers to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of the federation.
“It is also vested with investigatory powers, financial powers, confirmation and impeachment powers.
“It would not be out of place for me to use this occasion to remind us that the Legislature is the symbol of Democracy all over the world.
It is therefore pertinent and incumbent on all lovers of Democracy to ensure that this Institution is protected.
“One of the ways of doing this, is adequate training of staff. As I said at one of the training programmes organised for staff, we cannot continue to do things in the same way and expect to achieve different results.”
