If the Lagos State government’s second-quarter 2025 budget performance document is anything to go by, the 40 members of the Lagos State House of Assembly are set to benefit from a controversial N6.2 billion allocation for the purchase of 40 residential properties in Lagos or Abuja.
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The document reveals that as of mid-2025, N1 billion representing 16.1 per cent of the total allocation had already been disbursed for the project. A breakdown of the spending indicates that each of the 40 lawmakers is effectively entitled to a property worth about N155 million.
The initiative has raised concerns as it appears to provide parting gifts for legislators at a time of pressing fiscal and economic challenges.
Records show that this expenditure has been recurring in recent budget cycles. In 2023, N1.22 billion was initially allocated for the same purpose, and by the close of the financial year in December, about N1.131 billion had been spent, translating to 92.7 per cent budget performance. Interestingly, the bulk of this expenditure occurred before the fourth quarter, when only N424 million was released.
In 2024, the initial allocation of N1.22 billion for the purchase of 40 houses was dramatically increased to N6.2 billion by the Assembly itself. However, only N126 million — just two per cent of the allocation was spent, according to official records.
It remains unclear whether the properties purchased in 2023 were distributed to members of the ninth Assembly, whose tenure ended that year, or whether they were retained for the tenth Assembly inaugurated later in 2023.
The practice raises legal and constitutional issues. Section 124(5) of the 1999 Constitution permits state Houses of Assembly to legislate pensions or gratuities only for former governors and their deputies. This does not extend to lawmakers.
This constitutional limitation led former Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, in 2019 to withhold assent to a controversial life pension bill for members of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly. He argued that while the Constitution allows adjustments to pension amounts, it does not permit expanding the category of beneficiaries.
The provision of pensions and retirement benefits for lawmakers has long been a contentious issue in Nigeria. While much attention has focused on the generous entitlements of former governors and deputy governors, less scrutiny has been directed at similar perks for state legislators.
In recent years, however, several states have moved to cut back or repeal such provisions. In March 2024, the Abia State Assembly revoked pensions for ex-governors and their deputies, while the Benue State Assembly followed suit in May 2024, scrapping a law that provided life pensions, SUVs, and other benefits for former top executives.
In Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had, in November 2020, announced plans to repeal the Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension) Law, which guaranteed life pensions for former governors and their deputies. However, when lawmakers eventually acted ten months later, they merely reduced the benefits by 50 per cent, rather than scrapping them entirely.
What remains uncertain is whether the ongoing housing provision for legislators is an initiative of the executive arm or a creation of the Assembly itself. Either way, it is likely to fuel debate over transparency, fiscal discipline, and the propriety of allocating billions for lawmakers’ benefits at a time when citizens face mounting economic hardship.
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