By Wumi Tewogbade, Abuja

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike,on Monday, Flag off construction of 300 capacity male and female hostels at Nigerian Law School, Bwari Abuja.

Wike said, he was there to fulfill the promise President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, made in December last year and assured that the two hostels would be completed in 12 months.


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He emphasised the importance of completing the hostels on time, so that the school would be able to admit more students .

According to the Minister, “And in that flag off the Staff Quarters, he made a promise, looking around that, he has had information through the Attorney General that there is shortage of accommodation for students.

“And that is why the school is unable to accommodate the number that are being turned down from the various universities. That promise he made was in December. Today, we are here to fulfill that promise that Mr. President made. This shows that when you have good leadership, there is nothing difficult in achieving results, and Mr. President has shown leadership”.

He added that Mr. President, has also given approval for the construction of a bigger auditorium for the school.

He said, “I was discussing with my son, who by the grace of God was called to bar in the last Call to Bar ceremony, and he told me that, is like they have completed the auditorium. So I said, now that we are providing hostels that will take almost 600 students, it will mean that they will not admit more students. He said, well, it will not necessarily follow. I said, so what will happen? He said, well, that auditorium, will likely not take everybody. I said, okay, it means they require another auditorium so that they can. And so, luckily for us, I was privileged to be with Mr. President last night, and I tabled this to him, he said, go back, make sure another auditorium is built for Nigerian law school”.

“Let me assure you, the 12 months is 12 months. The contractors are aware that we will not accept variations or anything else”, he noted.

The Director General, Nigerian Law School, Prof Isa Hayatu Chiroma, SAN, commended President Tinubu for approving the projects and the hostels will address the challenge of accommodation for students.

“This Hostels will go a long way in assisting the Nigerian Law School to fulfilling its mandate. We are not taking this gesture for granted.

“On behalf of the Council of Legal Education, Nigerian Law School, Management, staff, and students, I respectfully thank His Excellency, President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, for approving this project “, he said.

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A Prominent human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, yesterday  called attention to the blatant breach of the relevant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution  while condemning the National Assembly’s decision to allocate N70 billion as palliatives for its members, saying that it is illegal and contemptuous. adsbygoogle || []).push({});

The statement that is contained in a press statement issued yesterday, 16th July, 2023 urged the immediate reversal of the controversial measures

Recall that N70 billion was allocated and, disbursed among 306 newly elected members, plus N40 billion set aside for the purchase of bulletproof cars and Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for principal officials and members, sparking public outrage. Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) emphasized that these decisions blatantly contravene Section 70 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, which outlines the appropriate remuneration and allowances for members of the National Assembly. citing recent court judgments, including Monday Ubani & Anor vs Attorney-General of the Federation & Ors and the case filed by the Socio-economic Rights Accountability Project (SERAP), Enough is Enough (EiE), and BudgIT against the National Assembly, Falana affirmed that the judiciary had already ruled against such excessive allowances.

The Federal High Court, in both cases, declared that the National Assembly Service Commission has no authority to determine the remuneration and allowances of its members. The court emphasized the need for the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to review and adjust salaries and allowances in line with the country’s economic realities. Falana stressed that these judgments remain valid and binding, and the National Assembly’s actions are therefore illegal and contemptuous.

He called on the leadership and members of the National Assembly to reverse the controversial allowances and the purchase of luxury vehicles. In the event that these actions are not promptly rectified, Falana urged the RMAFC to take immediate measures to prevent further usurpation of its constitutional functions. He warned that failure to do so would result in contempt proceedings against the Chairman of the RMAFC and the leaders of both chambers of the National Assembly. “Out of sheer insensitivity coupled with impunity, the members of the National Assembly, regardless of political affiliation, conspired to breach the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 by padding the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2023 to provide the so called palliative of N70 billion for 306 newly elected members.

While the masses of Nigeria are groaning under the excruciating economic pains unleashed on them by the ruling class, the National Assembly has awarded N228.7 million to each of the newly elected legislators. “As if that is not enough, the members of the National Assembly have earmarked N40 billion to purchase 465 Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and bulletproof cars for principal officials and members.

However, the legislators approved the sum of N500 billion for 12 million indigent people in a country where the National Bureau of Statistics has said that “62.9 percent of people (133 million) are multidimensional poor.”

“The callous and insensitive decisions of the members of the National Assembly constitute a flagrant contravention of Section 70 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, which stipulates as follows: ‘A member of the Senate or of the House of Representatives shall receive such salary and other allowances as Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission may determine’,” the statement read in part.

Making reference to a previous case, Falana said, “In Monday Ubani & Anor. v AttorneyGeneral of the Federation & Ors (Suit No FHC/LA/ CS/690/ 2018), the learned trial Judge, Professor Chuka Obiozor had cause to interpret the above provision of the Constitution when he held that, “The national assembly service commission has no power whatsoever to fix and determine or allocate the remuneration, allowances, salaries, emoluments or monetary values to the members of the national assembly.” His Lordship observed that “Given many years of extreme poverty in the country, and the inability of several state governments to pay salaries of workers and pensions, the refusal or failure of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission to review and cut the salaries and allowances of members of the national assembly is a gross violation of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) and the commission’s own Act.”

“For the avoidance of doubt, the learned trial Judge held that, “The allowances of wardrobe, newspapers, kitchen travelling domestic and constituency project allowances of the members of the national assembly are never contemplated or in the intendment of the constitution which created them and specified how they can be remunerated.”

Consequently, the Court ordered the RMAFC to review the salaries and allowances of members of the National Assembly to reflect the country’s current economic realities.

“The epochal judgment was adopted by the Federal High Court in the similar case (Suit No FHC/LA/CS/943/2019) filed by the Socioeconomic Rights Accountability Project (SERAP), Enough is Enough (EiE), and BudgIT against the National Assembly on the same subject matter and assigned to the same Judge.

“It is pertinent to note that both judgments of the Federal High Court have not been set aside by any higher court. Neither has the execution of the judgments been stayed or varied either by the Federal High Court or the Court of Appeal. Therefore, since the judgments are valid and subsisting, they are binding on all members of the Legislative and Executive Organs of the Federal Government.

“In view of the foregoing, it is crystal clear that by approving allowances in the form of palliatives for themselves without the approval of the Revenue Allocation Mobilization and Fiscal Commission the members of the National Assembly deliberately acted illegally and contemptuously. As such actions cannot be justified in a democratic society which claims to operate under the rule of law, we are compelled to call on the leaders and members of the National Assembly to reverse the scandalous palliatives and purchase of exotic vehicles.

“However, if the illegal decisions are not reversed, we call on the Revenue Allocation Mobilization and Fiscal Commission to take urgent steps to prevent the National Assembly from further usurping its constitutional functions. Otherwise, we are going to commence contempt proceedings against the Chairman of the RAMFC and the leaders of both Chambers of the National Assembly”., the statement concluded.