SERAP Sues RMAFC Over Planned Salary Hike for Political Office Holders

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has dragged the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to court over the commission’s proposal to increase the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers.

In suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1834/2025 filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, SERAP asked the court to determine whether the proposed pay rise was “unlawful, unconstitutional and inconsistent with the rule of law.”

The group also sought a declaration that the increase violated the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the RMAFC Act, and therefore could not stand.

SERAP is asking the court to order the commission to instead review downward the salaries and allowances of top political office holders “to reflect the economic realities in the country.”

“The imminent pay rise for political and public office holders in Nigeria is a gross misuse of the RMAFC’s constitutional and statutory mandates,” SERAP argued in its filings.

According to the organisation, the commission has no “unrestrained constitutional or statutory mandates nor unbridled discretion” to increase the pay of top politicians.

“The RMAFC has improperly and incorrectly exercised its mandates by proposing the hike. The move violates the Constitution, Nigeria’s human rights obligations, and the legal doctrine of reasonableness,” it added.

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The RMAFC Chairman, Mohammed Bello, had on August 18, 2025, announced the decision to propose a salary review for the president, vice-president, governors, and lawmakers, describing their current salaries as “paltry.”

Bello said the new “review package” was designed to remain “fair, realistic, and sustainable” while aligning with the country’s socio-economic conditions.

He noted that Nigeria’s revenue allocation formula was last fully overhauled in 1992, with only partial adjustments since 2002.

SERAP reminded the court that Justice Chuka Austine Obiozor of the Federal High Court, Lagos, had in June 2021 ordered RMAFC to review downward and fix the salaries and allowances of National Assembly members in line with economic realities.

That judgment followed consolidated suits filed by lawyer Monday Ubani, activist John Nwokwu, more than 1,500 concerned Nigerians, and civic groups including SERAP, BudgIT, and Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE).

Under sections 154(1), 156(3), and paragraph 31, Part I of the Third Schedule to the Constitution, members of the RMAFC are appointed by the president, subject to Senate confirmation.

No date has yet been fixed for the hearing of SERAP’s latest suit.