SERAP demands N110bn refund for luxury cars and unlawful allowances
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has demanded that Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas refund N110 billion to the public treasury after a Federal High Court in Lagos declared the National Assembly's spending on luxury SUVs and unlawful allowances illegal. The court ruling on the 5th of May came in a suit SERAP filed in 2023, challenging the 10th Assembly's plan to spend N40 billion on 465 exotic and bulletproof cars and N70 billion as holiday allowances for new lawmakers. Justice Yellim Bogoro of the Federal High Court held that the N110 billion spend violated section 57(4) of the Public Procurement Act, 2007, the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, and lawmakers' constitutional oath of office. The judgment found that the spending breached the principle that public funds must be used judiciously, especially at a time when […]