The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) from increasing the salaries of the president, vice-president, governors, their deputies, and lawmakers.
The legal action followed RMAFC’s recent proposal to raise the remuneration of these public officials, with the commission describing their current pay as “paltry.”
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In the suit, numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/1834/2025, SERAP challenged the proposed salary hike as “unlawful, unconstitutional, and inconsistent with the rule of law.”
The organisation argued that the move violated provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and the commission’s own enabling act.
SERAP asked the court for two key orders.
First, it sought an injunction restraining RMAFC from taking further steps to increase the salaries.
Second, it requested an order compelling the commission to review salaries and allowances downward in line with Nigeria’s current economic realities.
The organisation maintained that RMAFC’s authority to set salaries did not confer “unrestrained powers” to arbitrarily raise them, particularly in ways that ignored the public interest.
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SERAP’s legal team insisted that restraining the commission was crucial to protecting Nigerians’ fundamental rights, especially amid the severe economic hardship faced by most citizens.
As of press time, a date hasn’t been fixed for the hearing.
