₦6.2 Billion Budgeted for Lagos Lawmakers’ Houses Sparks Fresh Outrage.
Fresh controversy has erupted in Lagos after budget documents revealed that members of the Lagos State House of Assembly will each receive properties valued at about ₦155 million, costing the state a total of ₦6.2 billion.
According to the Assembly’s second-quarter 2025 budget performance report, ₦1 billion had already been spent by June. With 40 lawmakers in the chamber, the allocation effectively provides a house for every member, raising questions about whether the expenditure amounts to a retirement package in disguise.
This provision has appeared repeatedly in recent budgets. In 2024, the figure for lawmakers’ properties was raised from ₦1.22 billion to ₦6.2 billion, though only ₦126 million (about 2%) was eventually spent.
Records from 2023 show ₦1.131 billion out of ₦1.22 billion was used, mostly before the end of the year. It remains unclear whether those earlier allocations were distributed to members of the ninth Assembly.
Legal experts say the move has no clear constitutional basis. Section 124(5) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution allows state assemblies to legislate pensions or gratuities for governors and their deputies but makes no such provision for legislators.
The development mirrors debates in other states. In 2019, former Bayelsa Governor Seriake Dickson rejected a bill granting lawmakers life pensions, arguing assemblies could only adjust existing amounts but not create new entitlements. Abia and Benue have since scrapped pensions for ex-governors amid public pressure.
In Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu promised in 2021 to repeal the Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension) Law, which guaranteed lifelong benefits for governors and deputies. However, the Assembly later amended the law, reducing the benefits by half instead of abolishing them entirely.
