The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, over their refusal to halt the unlawful practice of setting lawmakers’ allowances and running costs.
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, announced the legal action in a statement released on Sunday. The lawsuit was filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, under suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1289/2024.
The organisation is seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel Mr. Akpabio and Mr. Abbas to disclose the exact amount of the monthly running costs paid to lawmakers and provide detailed spending records of these costs,” according to the statement.
SERAP argues that the Nigerian Constitution’s Third Schedule, paragraph N, section 32(d), prohibits the National Assembly from determining its own salaries, allowances, and running costs.
This legal action follows recent allegations by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo that lawmakers set their own salaries and allowances, in violation of recommendations from the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).
While it has been clarified that Nigeria’s 109 senators receive a monthly salary of N1,063,860, the details of their allowances remain undisclosed. This comes after Kano South Senator Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila revealed that senators receive N21 million in monthly running costs.
Former Senator Shehu Sani has stated that Sumaila’s revelation supports his previous claims regarding lawmakers’ allowances.
