Lawyers Move to Force Nigerian Senators to Return Majority of Salaries Over Underperformance

Legislative lawyers under the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP) have initiated legal action seeking to compel Nigerian senators to refund a significant portion of their salaries and allowances due to alleged poor performance since 2023. The lawyers filed a pre-action notice to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, demanding repayment of 78% of salaries paid to all 109 senators between May 2023 and May 2025, citing only 12% performance in fulfilling their statutory duties.

Additionally, 40 senators who simultaneously held membership in the ECOWAS and Pan-African parliaments are being asked to return all salaries and allowances received during this period, as this dual membership is considered a violation of Nigeria’s Constitution. The suit was filed at the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal, with copies of the notice sent to key national and regional officials including the President, Chief Justice, and the Secretaries-General of the ECOWAS and Pan-African parliaments.

ALDRAP described the senators as having neglected their core responsibilities of lawmaking, oversight, and representation, resulting in unjust enrichment at the public’s expense. The group pointed to several concerns, including the rapid passage of executive-sponsored bills without proper scrutiny, failure to meet constitutional requirements in certain legislative acts, and minimal attention to critical issues like security, agriculture, and food security, which make up a small fraction of the bills processed.

The lawyers highlighted a report by the independent Order Paper Parliamentary Monitoring Group, showing that between June 2023 and May 2024, only 19 out of 475 bills introduced in the Senate were passed, with many bills recycled from previous assemblies. The low legislative output continued into the following year, underscoring the perceived ineffectiveness of the current Senate.

In an affidavit supporting the suit, ALDRAP detailed how some senators abused their powers by suspending a colleague excessively and engaged in aggressive actions against individual members, while showing deference to the executive branch. They argued this inconsistency further illustrates a failure to uphold constitutional duties.

The lawyers urge the tribunal to order recovery of the salaries and allowances paid to the senators for poor performance and to disqualify those who hold prohibited concurrent legislative positions. They stressed that without judicial intervention, the abuse of legislative authority will persist, to the detriment of Nigerian citizens.