A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) challenging the National Assembly’s power to amend its budget in the 2024 Appropriation Act.
Justice James Omotosho ruled that SERAP lacked the legal standing to bring the case, agreeing with Sheriff Adesanya, counsel for the Senate President (the 1st Respondent), who argued that SERAP’s interest, along with that of the 20 citizens it represented, was no different from the general public’s interest.
Furthermore, the judge agreed with Adesanya (of Abiodun Adesanya & Co) that the claims made by SERAP were without merit, and thus dismissed the case in its entirety.
SERAP, represented by Andrew Nwankwo of Eko Akete Chambers, had argued that the National Assembly’s unilateral increase of its budget allocation from ₦197 billion to ₦344 billion violated Section 81 of the Constitution, the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, and democratic principles, particularly the separation of powers.
The organization sought a declaration that the budget increase was unconstitutional and requested orders requiring the National Assembly to follow proper constitutional procedures by resubmitting any amended appropriation bills to the President for approval before enactment.
However, lawmakers opposed SERAP’s arguments. In addition to contending that SERAP had no standing to initiate the suit, Dr. Adesanya defended the procedural validity of the National Assembly’s budget actions, stating that SERAP failed to demonstrate any procedural irregularities.
He argued that the presumption of regularity enjoyed by National Assembly actions had not been rebutted by the plaintiffs, and that there was no evidence to support the claim that the altered appropriation bill had not been forwarded to the President after amendment.
