SERAP Drags RMAFC To Court Over Proposed Pay Rise For Tinubu, Governors
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a suit against the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) over its proposal to increase the salaries of President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, governors, deputies and lawmakers.
RMAFC had last month announced its plan to review upward the pay of political and public office holders, describing their current salaries as “paltry.”
In a statement on Sunday, SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, confirmed that the commission has been dragged before the Federal High Court in Abuja. The case, with suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1834/2025, was filed last week but no hearing date has been fixed.
SERAP is asking the court to declare the proposed salary increment unlawful, unconstitutional and inconsistent with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and RMAFC’s Act. It also prayed the court to grant an injunction restraining the commission from implementing the plan and instead order a downward review of political office holders’ pay to reflect the country’s economic realities.
According to SERAP, over 133 million Nigerians live in poverty while several state governments struggle to pay workers and pensioners, making the planned pay rise unjustifiable.
The group further argued that RMAFC has no unrestrained constitutional powers to arbitrarily raise salaries, stressing that the move amounts to a misuse of its statutory mandate.
“The imminent pay rise for political office holders is a gross violation of Chapter 2 of the Nigerian Constitution relating to Fundamental Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy, and the country’s international human rights obligations,” the statement read.
SERAP maintained that RMAFC should focus on cutting excessive allowances, life pensions for ex-presidents, vice-presidents, governors, deputies, and lawmakers, rather than granting fresh pay rises.
It recalled that on 4 June 2021, Justice Chuka Austine Obiozor of the Federal High Court, Lagos, ordered RMAFC to review downward the salaries and allowances of National Assembly members to reflect economic realities.
Despite this, RMAFC Chairman Mohammed Bello, on 18 August 2025, defended the pay rise proposal, saying the salaries of political office holders were “paltry” and that the review was fair, realistic and sustainable.
SERAP, however, insisted that the move only favours the political class at the expense of millions of struggling Nigerians who face worsening poverty, epileptic power supply, lack of potable water, poor healthcare and collapsing public services.
Sodiq Yusuf is a trained media practitioner and journalist with considerable years of experience in print, broadcast, and digital journalism. His interests cover a wide range of causes in politics, governance, sports, community development, and good governance.
