SERAP drags RMAFC to court over proposed salary hike for politicians

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has taken the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to court over its plan to increase the salaries of political and public office holders.

Mohammed Shehu, RMAFC chairman, had last month defended the proposal, describing the current pay for Nigeria’s top office holders as “paltry.”

According to him, President Bola Tinubu earns N1.5 million monthly, a sum he called laughable for a nation of over 200 million people. He noted that salaries had remained unchanged since 2008.

But in a statement on Sunday, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP Deputy Director, said the organisation has filed suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1834/2025 at the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the review.

“We are asking the court to determine whether RMAFC’s proposed salary increase is not unlawful, unconstitutional, and inconsistent with the rule of law,” Oluwadare said.

SERAP is seeking a declaration that the proposal breaches provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the RMAFC Act.

The group is also asking for an injunction restraining RMAFC “from taking any step to review upward the salaries of the president, vice president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers.”

Instead, the organisation wants the court to compel the commission to slash the pay of politicians.

“An order directing RMAFC, its agents, to review downward the salaries and allowances of the president, vice president, governors, deputies, and lawmakers to reflect the economic realities in the country,” the statement read.

According to SERAP, preventing arbitrary pay raises for political elites would protect public interest and align with Nigeria’s constitutional and international human rights obligations.

“Reviewing downward the salaries of the president, vice president, governors, deputies, and lawmakers would be entirely consistent with the Nigerian Constitution, our international commitments, and the current economic realities in the country,” Oluwadare added.

With the case now before the court, the battle over politicians’ pay is set to test whether RMAFC can defend its “paltry salary” argument in a country where millions struggle under the weight of inflation and subsidy removal.