The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, to account for an alleged missing N18.6 billion allocated for the construction of the National Assembly Commission Office Complex.
SERAP’s demand, detailed in a letter dated October 18, 2025, follows grave allegations documented in the latest 2022 annual report by the Auditor-General of the Federation, published on September 9, 2025.
SERAP urged the leadership of the National Assembly to disclose the identity of an alleged “fictitious construction company” that reportedly received N18.6 billion for the complex, including the names of its directors, shareholders, and registered address.
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The organisation also demanded an explanation for the failure to comply with the Procurement Act, which allegedly involved not conducting a needs assessment, failing to advertise the bidding process, omitting to issue a contract agreement, and neglecting to obtain bidders’ quotations before the payment was made.
Additionally, SERAP wants clarification on the rationale behind the alleged inflation of the contract by N6.9 billion for the conversion of the roof garden into office space, and why no formal approval was secured for the upward review.
The organisation also called for details on the current implementation status of the project.
The Auditor-General’s report, according to SERAP, suggests that the National Assembly Service Commission paid over N11.6 billion on August 11, 2020, to an “unknown construction company” for the complex construction.
An additional N6.9 billion was reportedly paid on November 29, 2023, for the conversion of the roof garden to office space, which SERAP says inflated the original contract.
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, stated in the letter that these allegations “suggest grave violations of the public trust, the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], and national and international anticorruption obligations.”
The organisation stressed that the contracts, totalling N18.6 billion, were reportedly awarded without a Bill of Quantity (BOQ) for the upward review, without newspaper advertisements, a bidding process, or approval from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) or a ‘No Objection’ Certificate from the Bureau of Public Procurement.
SERAP insists that the National Assembly must demonstrate exemplary leadership by probing these allegations to effectively perform its oversight and anti-corruption roles.
The group gave Akpabio and Abbas a seven-day ultimatum to take the recommended measures.
Should they fail to respond, SERAP warned it would “take all appropriate legal actions to compel you, the National Assembly and the National Assembly Service Commission to comply with our request in the public interest.”
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SERAP further urged the National Assembly leaders to refer these alleged violations to appropriate anticorruption agencies for investigation, prosecution, and recovery of any misappropriated public funds.
