A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos says it is illegal for
the National Assembly to fix its own allowances.
In what is being described as a landmark judgment, Justice
Chuka Obiozor said only the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal
Commission can fix salaries for public officers.
Obiozor delivered the judgement in a suit filed by a former
Vice-President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Monday Ubani.
A former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, had said in March
2018 that he received N13.5m allowances monthly.
Ubani subsequently asked the court to decide if the National
Assembly had the right to arbitrarily fix its allowances.
He also asked the court to order the National Assembly
members to refund such jumbo allowances received.
The respondents in the case were the Senate President,
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Attorney-General of the Federation,
the National Assembly Service Commission and the RMAFC
In his ruling, Justice Obiozor said no other body or person
in the country shall fix salary or allowances for any officer except RMAFC and
it is illegal for anyone to do otherwise.
The judge, however, did not order that such allowances be
refunded.
The National Assembly, which has 469 members, had been
severely criticised for operating an opaque budget and refusing to reveal the
allowances of its members.
The Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against
Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay, said Nigerian federal lawmakers are among the
highest-earning lawmakers in the world.
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