Posted by Amidst controversy, SERAP has sued Godswill Akpabio, president of the Senate, and Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the House of Representatives, for their inaction in ending the illegal practices of fixing lawmarkers’ allowances and operating costs.
The SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, made the announcement in a statement released on Sunday.
This matter was brought before the Abuja Federal High Court on Friday under the case number FHC/ABJ/CS/1289/2024, as reported by SERAP.
According to SERAP, “an order of mandamus to direct and compel Mr. Akpabio and Mr. Abbas to disclose the exact amount of the monthly running costs being paid to and received by the lawmakers, and the spending details of any such running costs” has been issued.
Their main argument was that the National Assembly couldn’t legally set its own wages, allowances, and operating expenses because of “The provisions of paragraph N, section 32(d) of the Third Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended].”
This follows allegations made by Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, that parliamentarians set their own wages and allowances, even though the RMAFC has recommended otherwise.
The number of allowances received by Nigeria’s 109 senators is not specified, although their monthly salary is N1,063,860.
Senator Abdurrahman Kawu Sumaila of Kano South recently stated that senators receive N21 million every month to cover operating expenses.
According to Shehu Sani, a former senator, Sumaila was right about the operational expenses.