Some members of the Abia House of Assembly on Tuesday broke the padlock at the main gate to gain entrance into the Assembly premises at Ogurube Layout, Umuahia.
The lawmakers have been having a tough time getting into the complex due to an ongoing strike by the state chapter of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN).
In an interview with newsmen at the scene, the PASAN Chairman, Mr Sunday Kalu, said that the lawmakers led by the Deputy Speaker, Mr Okezie Mmeregini, used hammer, machets and iron to break the padlock.
He said that the lawmakers including Udoka Johnson (Isuikwuato) and Rowland Chinwendu (Isialangwa South) had asked them to open the gate but they told them that security men in possession of the the key were not around.
Kalu said; “They broke into the gate, which we didn’t even quarrel with them.
“We started having issues when we said that they can never force any of our members who is a staff here to come to office because that is our right to strike.
“And they started intimidating us.They broke into the gate and the videos are there.
“They said that they must definitely sit and have their budget breakdown today.”
Despite that, Kalu claimed that the lawmakers would not be able to have their normal proceedings because there would be no clerks at the table who would record it.
Kalu said that workers embarked on strike the previous week to demand Consolidated Legislative Salary Structure (CONLESS), after all the avenues for negotiation failed.
“There is no financial autonomy, nothing and we are being run as a one local organisation,” he alleged.
The chairman said that the association was already communicating with the national leadership of union and the Nigerian Labour Congress on the next step.
Kalu claimed that the lives of PASAN members were in danger following the alleged threat by the lawmakers.
When contacted via phone call, the Deputy Speaker, Mmeregini, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Information, confirmed the incident but pleaded for more time to respond.
He said that the House was about to have its executive session and would only respond after that.
He said they were about to sit for their executive session and didn’t know how long the sitting would take.
