SERAP Drags Lawan, Gbajabiamila To Court Over N228.1bn National Assembly Budget

The President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmad Lawan and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila have been dragged to court by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project {SERAP} over their failure to cut the “unlawful” National Assembly budget of N228.1 billion, including the N30.17bn severance payments and inauguration costs for members.”

SERAP filed the suit following the jacking up of the N169 billion proposed for the National Assembly in the budget proposal submitted by Ptesident Muhammadu Buhari to N228.1 billion by the lawmakers.

In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/152/2023 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel Lawan and Gbajabiamila to review and reduce the budget of N228.1bn the leadership and members of the National Assembly allocated for their own benefit.”

SERAP is also praying for “an order restraining and stopping the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, from releasing to the National Assembly the budget of N228.1bn, until an impact assessment of the spending on access to public goods and services and the country’s debt crisis, is carried out.”

The group also asked the court for an order restraining and stopping Lawan and Gbajabiamila from demanding or collecting the National Assembly budget of N228.1bn, until an impact assessment of the spending on access to public goods and services and the country’s debt crisis, is carried out.

SERAP argued that it was a grave violation of the public trust and constitutional oath of office for the members of the National Assembly to increase their own budget at a time when some 133 million Nigerians are living in poverty, adding that the National Assembly budget of N228.1bn is higher than the statutory transfer to the Universal Basic Education Commission, which is N103.3bn.

“The increase is unreasonable, as it would substantially increase the cost of governance, and exacerbate the country’s debt crisis. It is unlawful, and unfair to the Nigerian people”, the organisation argued, contending that cutting the National Assembly budget would reduce the growing budget deficit, address the unsustainable debt burden, and serve the public interest, and that by increasing its own budget, the National Assembly had unjustifiably and disproportionately reduced the budget for UBEC.

“This is a travesty, especially given that Nigeria currently has over 20 million out-of-school children, and half of all poor people in the country are children”, SERAP further argued in the suit filed on its behalf by its lawyers, Kolawole Oluwadare and Atinuke Adejuyigbe.

Joined in the suit as Defendants are President Buhari; the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN; and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

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

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