Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, to promptly reduce the National Assembly budget of N344.85 billion to reflect the current economic realities in the country. SERAP also appealed to them to request President Bola Tinubu to present a revised supplementary appropriation bill, reflecting the reduced National Assembly budget, for the approval of the National Assembly.
The organization further urged Akpabio and Abbas to publish details of the National Assembly budget, including the proposed spending details of the N3 billion for the Senate Car Park and N3 billion budgeted for the House of Representatives Car Park.
In a letter dated 13 January 2024 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization emphasized that passing appropriation bills inconsistent with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution constitutes a fundamental breach of the constitutional oath of office by the lawmakers.
SERAP highlighted that the arbitrary increase by the lawmakers of their own budgetary allocation, if not cut, would have significant fiscal consequences and exacerbate the country’s debt crisis.
The organization also expressed that the unilateral and self-serving increase by the lawmakers of their own allocation violates the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances, as well as the notion of the rule of law.
The letter continued by stating that the increase in the National Assembly budget raises serious questions in the minds of the Nigerian people about how the lawmakers are spending their commonwealth.
SERAP stressed the need for the National Assembly to be more responsible to the public interest and more responsive to it. The organization emphasized the constitutional responsibility of the National Assembly to combat waste and abuse in its own spending to effectively exercise its oversight functions and hold the government accountable.
Transparency and accountability in public administration were highlighted as essential elements of democracy. SERAP emphasized that transparency in the spending of the National Assembly budget would give the public a tool to hold the lawmakers accountable and protect Nigerians from potential abuses of governmental or legislative power.
The organization underlined that Nigerians have the right to scrutinize how their lawmakers spend their tax money and commonwealth, especially given the precarious economic realities in the country and the impact of the removal of fuel subsidy on vulnerable Nigerians.
SERAP emphasized that cutting the N344.48 billion National Assembly budget would be entirely consistent with the lawmakers’ constitutional oath of office and the letter and spirit of the Nigerian Constitution. It would promote efficient, honest, and legal spending of public money and serve the public interest, thereby restoring public confidence in the National Assembly.
SERAP conveyed that if the recommended measures are not taken within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of the letter, the organization shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel Akpabio, Abbas, and the National Assembly to comply with their request in the public interest.
The organization also urged clarification on the details of the N8.5 billion budgeted for ‘National Assembly liabilities’ and disclosure of the nature of any such liabilities and how and why they have been incurred.
SERAP further called for clarification on the budget allocation of N225 million for the National Assembly E-Library and N3 billion for purchasing books for the National Assembly Library, along with the ‘take-off grant’ for the National Assembly Library amounting to N12.1 billion.
The organization deemed the budget of N344.48 billion by members of the National Assembly as a fundamental breach of the Nigerian Constitution and the country’s international human rights obligations. It highlighted that the new budgetary allocation to the National Assembly is over 70 percent of the N197 billion proposed by President Bola Tinubu in the budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly.
The breakdown of the N344.48 billion National Assembly budget was outlined, revealing allocations for various purposes such as National Assembly Office, Senate, House of Representatives, National Assembly Service Commission, Legislative Aides, NILDS, Service-wide votes, Senate and House Appropriation Committees, National Assembly Library Take Off Grant, ongoing National Assembly building, and several other items.
Sections 14(2)(b), 16(1)(a)(b), 16(2), and 13 of the Nigerian Constitution, along with Section 81, and sections 13 and 18 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, were referenced to emphasize the obligations and constraints on the National Assembly in inserting its own allocations in the budget.
