By Adedapo Adesanya
A suit has been instituted against the leadership of the National Assembly, the Senate President, Mr Godswill Akpabio; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Tajudeen Abbas, over the parliament’s running costs.
The suit was filed by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), which emphasised that Mr Akpabio and Mr Abbas failed to end “the unlawful practice by the National Assembly of fixing its allowances and running costs, and the failure to account for the monthly running costs paid to members.”
The group in a statement on Sunday by its Deputy Director, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, noted that the matter was now before a Federal High Court in Abuja, explaining that the legal action followed a recent allegation by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that the lawmakers fix their salaries and allowances, contrary to the recommendation of the Revenue Mobilisation Fiscal Allocation Commission (RMAFC).
In the suit, the association seeks “an order of mandamus to direct and compel Mr Akpabio and Mr Abbas to end the unlawful practice of the National Assembly fixing its remuneration and allowances termed as running costs.”
It also wants “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.”
According to the statement, SERAP seeks “an order of mandamus to direct and compel Mr Akpabio and Mr Abbas to end the alleged practice of paying remuneration and allowances termed as ‘running costs’ into the personal accounts of lawmakers.”
“The provisions of paragraph N, section 32(d) of the Third Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended] clearly make it unlawful for the National Assembly to fix its salaries, allowances and running costs,” it further said.
“The alleged practice of paying running costs into the personal accounts of lawmakers is a fundamental breach of Rule 713 of the Federal Government Financial Regulations, which provides that ‘public money shall not be paid into a private bank account,” SERAP added.
