Lagos Assembly Budgets ₦6.2bn for Lawmakers’ Houses

The Lagos State House of Assembly has set aside ₦6.2 billion to purchase 40 properties in Lagos or Abuja for its members.

According to the state’s second-quarter 2025 budget performance document, ₦1 billion has already been spent, representing 16.1% of the allocation.

Each of the 40 lawmakers is expected to get one property worth about ₦155 million. Observers describe the allocation as a “parting gift” since the figure was raised from ₦1.22 billion in 2024.

In 2023, ₦1.22 billion was allocated to purchase 40 properties. By year’s end, ₦1.131 billion had already been spent — a 92.7% performance rate.

The budget documents did not clarify if the 2023 expenditure was for members of the ninth Assembly, which ended that year, or if it rolled over to the current tenth Assembly.

Records also showed that most of the 2023 spending happened before the last quarter, with ₦424 million released in the fourth quarter alone.

Legal and ethical questions

It is still not clear if this new housing provision originated from the Assembly itself or the executive arm.

Section 124(5) of the 1999 Constitution permits state Assemblies to legislate on pensions and gratuities for former governors and deputies. It does not extend such privileges to legislators.

This same provision was cited in 2019 by former Bayelsa governor Seriake Dickson, when he refused to sign a bill granting life pensions to state lawmakers. He said the bill overreached constitutional limits.

Across Nigeria, pensions for state lawmakers rarely receive attention compared to the lavish entitlements of former governors. Yet, recent reforms show growing public concern about the burden of such benefits.

For example, Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu promised in 2020 to repeal the law granting pensions to ex-governors and deputies. Instead, in 2021, lawmakers only slashed the benefits by 50%.

More recently, Abia State lawmakers repealed pensions for ex-governors in March 2024, while Benue State followed in May 2024, ending payments that had included SUVs, monthly stipends, and other perks.

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