Parliamentary workers deny N500m fraud allegation, say petition not accurate

The Chairman of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), National Assembly chapter, Sunday Sabiyi, has refuted allegations of a ₦500 million financial misappropriation leveled against senior union officials. Sabiyi asserted that the petition driving the accusations was written out of malice and does not accurately reflect the events that transpired.

According to reports, three top PASAN officials in the National Assembly were summoned by the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) on Wednesday, 29 March 2023, for questioning. The FCID’s invitation letters, routed through the office of the Permanent Secretary for Human Resources and Staff Development, were addressed individually to Chairman Sabiyi, Financial Secretary Stacy Nwodo, and Treasurer Samtiya Daniel. The summons were issued in response to a petition filed jointly by nine suspended PASAN officers, who alleged financial misappropriation by the union’s executive.

Sabiyi denied the allegations, describing the petition as a malicious afterthought. He explained that the nine members had been suspended during a general congress after being found guilty of selling union land during the previous executive’s tenure. A committee had investigated the matter and submitted its findings to the union congress, which confirmed the members’ guilt. Sabiyi noted that the suspended members waited over two years before petitioning the police, seemingly to divert attention from the union’s recent free and fair election, in which he won a landslide victory.

Emphasising the need for peace and harmonious working relations in the National Assembly, Sabiyi announced that the union would address the accusations through its internal mechanisms, as the national body remains the only authorized apex entity capable of auditing chapter accounts. He called on all union members to remain calm and law‑abiding, reaffirming his commitment to consolidating the gains achieved by his executive team and to serving the staff’s best interests under his renewed mandate.