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Court orders National Assembly to disclose lawmakers earnings

Idris Akinbajo

Most Nigerians consider the National Assembly a looting assembly

In 14 days, interested members of the public should have full details of National Assemblylawmakers' earnings, a court has ordered.

An Abuja Federal High Court has ordered the National Assembly to release, in 14 days, details of thesalary, emoluments, and allowances received by its members between 2007 and 2011.

Justice B.B. Aliyu gave the ruling, on Monday, in a suit filed by Legal Defense and Assistance Project(LEDAP), a non-governmental organisation.

LEDAP had last year written to the National Assembly management to furnish it with the details ofpayments made to lawmakers. The NGO made the request on July 6, 2011, citing the Freedom ofInformation Act which was signed into law in May that year.

The National Assembly refused to respond to the groups request, in a usual characteristic of governmentagencies.

Following National assemblys refusal, LEDAP filed its suit in Septe mber last year seeking two reliefswhich were: an order declaring that the refusal of NASS management to provide the required informationwas illegal; and an order mandating the NASS management to release the required information within 14days.

Mr. Aliyu granted both orders. Yusuf Usman, counsel to the National Assembly, argued that legislatorsearnings were beyond the purview of the FOI, and that LEDAP had no locus standi to institute the suit.

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In giving his ruling, Mr. Aliyu disagreed with the National assembly lawyer saying the payments are ofpublic interest since they were made from public funds.

Mr. Aliyus ruling is a clear distinction from that made by Yetunde Idowu of a Lagos High Court. Ms. Idowuhad ruled that salaries and allowances of lawmakers were personal information, and not covered underthe FOI act; in a suit filed by an NGO against the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Nigerian lawmakers are considered the highest paid lawmakers in the world with each Senator believedto be getting a quarterly sum of N45million and each member of the lower house, N36million. These sumsare outside of their legally approved salaries and allowances.

Chino Obiagwu, counsel to LEDA, said his client would not relent until all the illegal allowances collectedby lawmakers between 2007 and 2011 were returned.

Legislators are those who made the law on how much each public officer should be paid in salary andallowances,Mr. Obiagwu said. They are liable to ref und any excess money collected beyond approvedsum, and we will pursue this issue in the courts until all unlawful overpayments to the legislators of the 6th

Assembly are repaid to public coffers.

NASS to comply

The Director of Information of the National Assembly, Monima Daminabo, has expressed the willingnessof the assembly to comply with the ruling.

We are going to comply exactly in line with the court order, said Mr. Daminabo who categorized thecontroversial earnings of the lawmakers as operational expenses.