The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila over the National Assembly’s budget.
SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday, saying the suit became necessary following their “failure to cut the unlawful National Assembly budget of N228.1bn, including the N30.17bn severance payments and inauguration costs for members
In the suit, Defendants are President Muhammadu 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.
He stated that the suit followed the move by the National Assembly to increase its 2023 budget from N169bn proposed by President Muhammadu Buhari to N228.1bn. While the approved budget shows an increase of about N59.1bn, the country’s budget of N21.83tn is based on a N10.49tn revenue, and an N11.34tn deficit.
