Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu “to direct the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to immediately suspend the patently unlawful and unconstitutional pay rise for political and public office holders in Nigeria particularly the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and the country’s lawmakers.”
SERAP urged him to reject the imminent pay rise for politicians and encourage the vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers to do the same.
SERAP also urged him to “direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN to ensure full and effective compliance with the judgment of Justice Chuka Austine Obiozor directing the RMAFC to review downward the salaries and allowances of the members of the National Assembly to reflect the economic realities in the country.”
In the letter dated 23 August 2025 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “The RMAFC’s constitutional and statutory mandates clearly do not imply the unrestrained powers to increase the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers.”
SERAP said, “Suspending the imminent pay rise for political office holders would serve legitimate public interests. When the exercise of RMAFC’s constitutional and statutory mandates clashes with Nigerians’ fundamental rights, the public interests in upholding these rights ought to prevail.”
According to SERAP, “Rather than reviewing downward the salaries of political and public office holders to reflect the current economic challenges in the country, the commission is arbitrarily increasing the salaries for the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers.”
The letter, read in part: “the imminent pay rise for political and public office holders in Nigeria particularly the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers is a gross misuse of the RMAFC’s constitutional and statutory mandates.
“The RMFAC has neither unrestrained constitutional and statutory mandates nor unbridled discretion to increase the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers.
“On the basis of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, the country’s international human rights obligations and the legal doctrine of reasonableness, the RMAFC has improperly and incorrectly exercised its constitutional and statutory mandates by increasing the salaries of political office holders.
“RMFAC cannot legitimately or justifiably increase the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors and their deputies, and lawmakers at a time when over 133 million Nigerians are poor and several state governments are failing to pay salaries of workers and pensions.
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“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are taken within 7 days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government and RMFAC to comply with our request in the public interest.
“RMFAC seems to act consistently to give advantage to political office holders over the interests of poor Nigerians. The RMFAC, in the exercise of its constitutional and statutory mandates ought to balance the interests of the marginalised and vulnerable sectors of the population against the ‘interests’ of political office holders.
