SERAP Urges Tinubu to Halt Unlawful Salary Hike for Politicians, Threatens Legal Action

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has strongly urged President Bola Tinubu to immediately suspend the proposed salary increase for top political office holders, including the president, vice-president, governors, deputies, and lawmakers. In a letter dated August 23, 2025, and signed by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, the group described the move as “unconstitutional and unlawful,” calling on Tinubu to instruct the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to stop the pay hike.

SERAP warned that the salary increment contradicts both the Nigerian Constitution and international human rights obligations. It emphasized that the RMAFC has overstepped its statutory mandate, particularly when a 2021 Federal High Court ruling by Justice Chuka Austine Obiozor ordered the commission to reduce lawmakers’ salaries to reflect Nigeria’s struggling economic state. SERAP labeled the proposed increase as a “gross misuse” of power, pointing out that the commission lacks the authority to arbitrarily raise political salaries without considering the nation’s economic hardships.

Highlighting the dire conditions faced by over 133 million impoverished Nigerians and many state governments’ inability to pay salaries and pensions, SERAP criticized the RMAFC’s priorities. It warned that proceeding with the increase would deepen inequality and public discontent. SERAP called on Tinubu, the Attorney General, and other political leaders to reject the raise and instead work toward cutting excessive allowances and pensions for current and former political office holders.

The organization stressed that failure to act within seven days could lead to legal proceedings. While opposing the politicians’ pay hike, SERAP clarified that it supports improved salaries for Nigerian judges to enhance access to justice. The letter referenced recent statements by RMAFC Chairman Mohammed Bello, who claimed the proposed salary review was necessary due to “paltry” earnings of politicians—a claim SERAP dismissed as misleading and disconnected from the country’s economic reality.