Court Urged To Stop Akpabio, Abbas, Others From Increasing Own Budget

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 20 concerned Nigerians who are sued for themselves and on behalf of all members of the National Assembly have asked a Federal High Court, Abuja, to stop the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas from unilaterally and arbitrarily increasing the allocation for lawmakers from N197bn to N344bn, the highest since the return of democracy in 1999.

The lawmakers had raised their allocation from N197bn proposed by President Bola Tinubu for them in the budget to N344bn. 

Consequently, the lawmakers will draw N514bn from the 2024 budget. The lawmakers also in 2023 increased their budget from the originally proposed N169bn to N228bn.

According to the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/68/2024, the Plaintiffs are asking the court to determine “whether the lawmakers, in the exercise of their powers over appropriation/money bills, can unilaterally increase their budget without the re-presentation of the budget by the Executive.

“A declaration that the National Assembly, in the exercise of its powers over appropriation/money bills, cannot unilaterally increase its budget without the re-presentation of the budget by the President in line with Section 81 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended].

“A declaration that the action of the National Assembly, unilaterally increasing its budget from N197 billion to N344 billion, without the re-presentation of the budget by the President is a breach of the democratic principles of separation of powers and checks and balances.

“An order of perpetual injunction restraining and preventing the National Assembly from unilaterally increasing its budget, in the exercise of its powers over all appropriation/money bills, without the re-presentation of such appropriation/money bills by the President in line with the Nigerian Constitution.”

In the suit, the Plaintiffs are arguing that: “Allowing the National Assembly to continue to unilaterally and arbitrarily increase its budget would fundamentally undermine the letter and spirit of the Nigerian Constitution, public trust, and the rule of law.”

In arguing that the arbitrary and self-serving increase by the lawmakers of their allocation offends the Code of Conduct for Public Officers [Fifth Schedule Part 1] of the Nigerian Constitution, oath of office, and the democratic principles of separation of powers and checks and balances, the Plaintiffs insisted that unless the reliefs sought are granted, the National Assembly will continue to breach the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the rule of law, and at the expense of millions of Nigerians living in poverty.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

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