The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) over its proposed salary increase for political and public office holders, including the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers.
Last month, RMAFC announced plans to raise salaries for top officials, describing their current pay as “paltry.”
In a statement on Sunday, SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare confirmed the suit, filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, under number FHC/ABJ/CS/1834/2025. He said no hearing date had been fixed yet.
SERAP is seeking a declaration that the proposal is unlawful, unconstitutional, and inconsistent with the rule of law. It has also asked the court for an injunction to restrain RMAFC from implementing any salary hike and an order compelling the commission to reduce current salaries and allowances in line with Nigeria’s economic realities.
The group argued that preventing arbitrary pay rises would serve the public interest and that RMAFC does not have unfettered powers to increase salaries. According to SERAP, cutting salaries would align with constitutional provisions, international human rights obligations, and the country’s dire economic conditions.
The suit noted that more than 133 million Nigerians live in poverty, while several state governments struggle to pay workers and pensioners. “RMAFC seems to act consistently to give advantage to political office holders over the interests of poor Nigerians,” the organisation stated.
SERAP also stressed that the commission should prioritise reducing excessive allowances and life pensions for politicians rather than burdening the system with further increases. It added that representative democracy and fairness mean little if leaders’ pay rises while citizens face worsening living standards, poor healthcare, unreliable electricity, and lack of potable water.
RMAFC Chairman Mohammed Bello recently defended the proposed review, describing it as fair, realistic, and sustainable, and noting that the last major overhaul of the allocation formula was in 1992. However, SERAP recalled a 2021 Federal High Court judgment ordering RMAFC to review National Assembly members’ pay downwards to reflect economic realities.
The organisation maintained that the commission had improperly exercised its constitutional mandate and called on the judiciary to uphold the rights and interests of ordinary Nigerians.