The Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives has described as misleading the claim by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project that the Speaker owes Nigerians an explanation regarding the N18.6bn allocated for the construction of the National Assembly Service Commission headquarters building in Abuja.

In a statement issued on Monday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Krishi, the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, said he has no role in the award, supervision, or payment of any contract for the National Assembly or its agencies.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Speaker wishes to state unequivocally that he has no involvement, directly or indirectly, in the award, processing, supervision, or payment of any contract within the National Assembly bureaucracy or any of its agencies,” the statement read in part.

The statement added that the procurement and execution of projects under the National Assembly are the exclusive responsibility of the administrative bureaucracy.

“Contractual matters within the National Assembly are the exclusive responsibility of the administrative bureaucracy, which operates under its own statutory leadership and procurement structures,” it added.

Krishi further noted that the building project in question was conceived, awarded, and executed well before the current House leadership assumed office.

“It is important to emphasise that, by its own admission, SERAP acknowledged that the NASC headquarters project was conceived, awarded, and contractually executed long before the emergence of the current leadership of the House of Representatives,” he said.

He insisted that linking the Speaker or the House leadership to the project is “factually incorrect and misleading.”

“It is germane to restate that the political leadership of the National Assembly does not have anything to do with such matters. Accordingly, attempts to link the Speaker or the House leadership to such matters are factually incorrect and misleading,” the statement further read.

The Office urged SERAP, the media, and the public to respect the institutional boundary between political leadership and administrative contract management.

On October 19, 2025, SERAP issued a public letter demanding that the Speaker, Abbas, and the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, explain how N18.6bn—allocated for the construction of the NASC office complex—was spent.

The call followed revelations in the 2022 audit report of the Auditor-General of the Federation, published on September 9, 2025, which flagged serious irregularities in the project’s procurement and payment processes.

According to the Auditor-General’s report, the NASC paid over N11.6bn in August 2020 to an “unknown construction company” for the building project.

Subsequently, in November 2023, an additional N6.9bn was paid—reportedly for converting a roof garden into office space—bringing the total to the disputed N18.6bn.

SERAP described the contractor as a “fictitious construction company” and called for full disclosure of the company’s name, its directors and shareholders, and its registered address.

The group also demanded all relevant procurement documents, including needs assessments, bid advertisements, bidders’ quotations, contract agreements, Tender Board minutes, and evidence of Federal Executive Council approval.

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