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Court agrees with SERAP on need for N’Assembly leadership to account for N500bn ‘running cost’

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Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) says it has has won another round in the legal battle to compel the Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, to disclose the exact amount the country’s National Assembly spends on running cost.

SERAP had dragged the two chambers of the National Assembly to court, requesting its leadership to account for the expenditure of N500 billion as running cost for the legislative body between 2006 and 2016, and to disclose monthly allowances of each member.

SERAP made the claim in as statement released and signed by its deputy director, Timothy Adewale.

According to the statement, “Justice Rilwan Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos on Friday ruled thus, ‘I have looked at the papers filed by SERAP and I am satisfied that leave ought to be granted in this case for judicial review and an order of mandamus directing and compelling Saraki and Dogara to account for the spending of the running cost and disclose the monthly income and allowances of each Senator and member.’

“Justice Aikawa granted the order for leave following the hearing of an argument in court on exparte motion by SERAP counsel Ms Bamisope Ibidolapo.,”

The suit numbers FHC/L/CS/1711/16 and FHC/L/CS/1710/16 filed last December followed disclosure by Abdulmumin Jibrin that Nigerian Senators and House of Representatives members have pocketed N500 billion as ‘running cost’ out of the N1 trillion provided for in the National Assembly budgets between 2006 and 2016, and allegations by former president Olusegun Obasanjo that each Senator goes home with nothing less than N15m monthly while each member receives nothing less than N10m monthly.

The order by Justice Aikawa has now cleared the way for SERAP to advance its case against the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The motion on notice is set for Tuesday 12 December, 2017 for the hearing of argument on why Saraki and Dogara should not be compelled to publish details of the spending on the running of the National Assembly and the exact monthly income and allowances of each Senator and member.

The suits are respectively seeking the following reliefs, “A declaration that the failure and/or refusal of the Respondents to disclose the spending of N500 billion as running cost between 2006 and 2016, and the monthly income and allowances of each senator and member amounts to a breach of the fundamental principles of transparency and accountability and violates Articles 9, 21 and 22 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act.

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“A declaration that by virtue of the provisions of Section 1 (1) and Section 4 (a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2011, the Defendants/Respondents are under a binding legal obligation to provide the Plaintiff/Applicant with up to date information on the spending allowances of each Senator and member including: Details of projects on which the N500 billion running cost between 2006 and 2016 were spent.

“An order of mandamus directing and or compelling the Defendants/Respondents to provide the Plaintiff/Applicant with up to date information on the spending of N500 billion as running cost between 2006 and 2016, and the monthly income and allowances of each Senator and member including: Details of projects on which the N500 billion running cost between 2006 and 2016 were spent.”

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0 Comments

  1. yanju omotodun

    October 29, 2017 at 8:18 pm

    #500bn running ? cost, what about sleeping cost? National Assembly is a National House of corruption

    • JOHNSON PETER

      October 29, 2017 at 9:02 pm

      Don’t mind them, Nigeria is being drained by those reprobates

  2. Balarabe musa

    October 29, 2017 at 8:32 pm

    SERAP has been challenging the government and it has been yielding good result, we need more NGOs that will be the voice of the voiceless

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