Lawyers Files Suit To Compel Senators To Refund Salaries For Non-performance

Legislative attorneys, operating under the auspices of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP), have initiated actions to require Nigerian senators to reimburse a portion of their salaries and allowances received since 2023 due to alleged inadequate performance.

A group of 40 senators is also being requested to return the total salaries and allowances they received during the time they held concurrent memberships in both the Nigerian Senate and the ECOWAS and Pan-African parliaments, which contravenes Nigeria’s laws.

The legislative attorneys, who have approached the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal as consumers dissatisfied with the services provided by the senators, have submitted a pre-action notice to the Senate, directed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

In accordance with the procedures of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal, the respondent in a legal action is initially served with a pre-action notice before being summoned to appear before the tribunal.

The pre-action notice was delivered in a letter dated May 26, 2025, and signed by ALDRAP’s Administrative Secretary, Amuga Jesse Williams.

The letter is titled, ‘Pre-action Notice: Demand made pursuant to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Act, 2018, for the reimbursement of 78% of the total salaries and allowances received by each of the 109 senators from May 2023 to May 2025 for 12% performance and fulfillment of their statutory responsibilities to constituents (consumers) and reimbursement of all salaries and allowances received by the 40 senators who neglected their duties at the National Assembly to serve as legislators in the Parliament of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Pan-African Parliament, respectively, which violates Section 68 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, that prohibits its senators from holding concurrent memberships in the National Assembly and another legislative body.

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Executive Vice-Chairman of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Secretary-General of the ECOWAS Parliament, and the Secretary-General of the Pan-African Parliament were included in the correspondence.

According to the legislative attorneys, existing records indicate that the Senate has only fulfilled its responsibilities at a mere 12 per cent since the commencement of the 10th National Assembly in May 2023.

Consequently, they are requesting that the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal mandate the senators to reimburse 78 percent of the salaries and allowances received from May 2023 to May 2025 to the national treasury, via the Accountant-General of the Federation, due to inadequate service delivery.

The letter read, “The Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, ALDRAP, is a professional association of legislative lawyers who promote adherence to the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution by legislators and others within the legislative ecosystem. We use both public education and public interest litigation as methods to compel compliance.

“We have sworn to an affidavit of facts to support our statements in this letter. It is attached/enclosed. We are representatives of the constituents (consumers) of the legislative services provided by the 109 senators of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Due to dissatisfaction with the legislative services provided by the said 109 senators, we, the constituents and consumers, write to make the following demands under the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Act, 2018:

“Refund to the Accountant-General of the Federation 78% of the total salaries and allowances collected by each of the 109 senators of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from May 2023 till date (computed at ₦15,000,000 per month per Senator).

“All salaries and allowances collected by the 40 senators who are members of the ECOWAS Parliament and the Pan-African Parliament, respectively (computed at ₦15,000,000 per sitting per minimum of 10 sittings per annum).

“Take Notice that in the event of your failure to comply within seven days of the date of this letter, we shall have no other option than to commence legal steps before the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal in accordance with the relevant laws.”

In an affidavit in support of the suit, filed on May 27, 2025, deposed to by Jesse Amuga, the lawyers explained that the suit was brought in the public interest, pursuant to sections 6 and 14 of the Nigerian Constitution, Section 130 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, and sections 69 and 104 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018.

The affidavit stated, “The subject matter of this suit relates to the performance or otherwise of statutory duties imposed on the 109 senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by sections 4, 88 and 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), which include lawmaking, oversight and effective representation.

“From June 2023 to May 2025, the 10th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has engaged in a legislative pattern and conduct that amounts to failure and neglect of the statutory duties for which they have collected public funds by way of salaries and allowances, thereby unjustly enriching themselves at public expense.

“I rely on the empirical findings and observations made by Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja, an expert in legislative law and legal drafting with 21 years of professional legal experience, as contained in his Open Letter to the Senate President, Senator Godswill Obot Akpabio, and the Majority Leader, Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, dated 26th May 2025. Dr. Jaja’s letter highlighted, inter alia, the following particulars and factual instances of legislative failure:

“A. The 10th Senate enacted several Executive Bills without public hearings or meaningful scrutiny, including the National Anthem Act, 2024 and the Bill for Extension of the Tenure of the Inspector-General of Police, both passed in less than one week.

“B. The Senate on 20th March 2025 purportedly enacted a law supporting the Proclamation of a State of Emergency in Rivers State without complying with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, which requires a valid two-thirds majority vote. C. A study by the Order Paper Parliamentary Monitoring Group, reviewing 475 Bills considered since 2023, revealed that only 5.4% addressed security and only 7.3% concerned agriculture and food security — the two most pressing concerns of the Nigerian public.

“D. The 10th Senate focused primarily on passing Executive-sponsored Bills to the neglect of private member bills and issues of public concern, constituting a failure of their oversight and representative roles.”

The affidavit reportedly obtained by Daily Post added, “Since the year 2011, the National Assembly Committees on Constitutional Review have always been allocated the sum of ₦5 billion. Some persons have asked them to refund this money after Senator Ike Ekweremadu, then Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitutional Review, was alleged to have expended over ₦8 billion of the said funds. Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele’s justification that 39 meetings were held with the Executive before passing the Tax Reform Bills and that due diligence was applied to the 2025 Budget is both selective and inconsistent with the Senate’s actual legislative record.

“The Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, publicly stated that senators were not elected to “fight” the Executive, implying that the Senate is not expected to check the Executive arm of government — a fundamental violation of the doctrine of separation of powers and legislative oversight duty. This same Senate has, however, engaged in intense and excessive confrontational action against a single member, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, including: (a) an illegal six-month suspension exceeding what is permitted by Senate Rules and judicial precedent. (b) A series of litigations, media campaigns, and alleged criminal prosecution were initiated against her.

“This inconsistent application of legislative powers — docility toward the Executive but aggression toward a fellow legislator — is a clear dereliction of the institutional responsibility imposed on the Senate as an independent arm of government. By failing to effectively carry out lawmaking, oversight and constituent representation duties as required by the Constitution, while collecting salaries and allowances, the senators of the 10th Assembly have violated the principle of value-for-money and are liable to refund 78% of their salaries and allowances collected for the period June 2023 to May 2025.

“In addition to the above, several members of the National Assembly have accepted appointments and were inaugurated as members of the ECOWAS Parliament and Pan-African Parliament in April 2024 while still serving as lawmakers in Nigeria, in violation of Section 68(1)(a) of the Constitution, which prohibits sitting legislators from holding any other office of profit or emolument.

“The legislative lawyers, in the affidavit, noted further that the concerned senators have been participating in legislative business within ECOWAS or Pan-African institutions while simultaneously receiving salaries, allowances, and privileges as members of Nigeria’s National Assembly.

“This dual occupancy and remuneration from both offices is contrary to the Constitution and offends the principle of legislative integrity and accountability.”

The association contended that if the court did not mandate the relevant authorities to investigate and initiate the recovery of the salaries and allowances received, as well as to disqualify ineligible legislators, the ongoing misuse of legislative power would continue to harm Nigerian citizens.

They maintained that it is crucial for the sake of justice and public confidence that the court “grants the reliefs sought in this suit”.

A report published in October 2024 by OrderPaper, Nigeria’s leading independent parliamentary monitoring organisation, disclosed that over fifty per cent of the Bills introduced in the Senate from June 2023 to May 2024 were repetitions from earlier assemblies, particularly the preceding 9th Assembly.

The report further indicated that almost one-third of the Bills addressed in the House of Representatives during the same timeframe were reintroduced from the previous assembly.

The findings highlighted a considerable disparity between the sponsorship and advancement of Bills. An analysis conducted by OrderPaper revealed that from June 2023 to May 2024, the Senate proposed 475 Bills, of which merely 19 were enacted during that period.

The performance report also underscored a deficiency in addressing critical national issues, as Bills pertaining to agriculture and food security constituted only 5.8 per cent of the House Bills and 7.3 per cent of Senate Bills. Bills related to security represented 7.2 per cent of House Bills and 5.4 per cent of Senate Bills.

“Despite the significant challenges faced by citizens in these sectors in recent years, Bills addressing these issues remain few, with many not progressing past the first reading,” the report observed.

Overall, available records show that the 10th Senate, in its first year, May 2023 to May 2024, introduced 464 Bills and passed only 19.

In the second year, from May 2024 to May 2025, 341 Bills were introduced, but only seven were passed. In the House of Representatives, out of 1,727 Bills filed by December 2024, only 114 were passed.