- Budget Report Shows Lagos Assembly Members Set for N155m Houses Each
- Budgets N6.2b To Buy 40 Property In Lagos, Abuja
- Uncertainty whether the initiative to provide houses originated from the executive or the legislature
If the information contained in the second quarter 2025 budget performance report of the Lagos State government is anything to go by, the 40 members of the Lagos State House of Assembly will be spending N6.2 billion on the purchase of 40 houses in either Lagos or Abuja.
Eko Hot Blog gathered that as of the end of the second quarter of 2025, the report showed that N1 billion, representing about 16.1 percent of the total allocation, had already been spent.
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Since the funds are designated for 40 houses, it means each lawmaker is entitled to at least one property, given that there are 40 legislators in the Assembly.
A breakdown of the N6.2 billion indicates that each lawmaker is expected to receive a house worth about N155 million.
However, it appears the houses may be intended as parting gifts, as the 2024 budget performance showed that although N1.22 billion was initially allocated for 40 houses, the Assembly increased the amount to N6.2 billion. Out of this, only N126 million was spent, just two percent of the allocation, according to the budget document.
In the 2023 budget performance report, N1.22 billion was also allocated for 40 houses. By the end of that financial year, about N1.131 billion had been spent, translating to 92.7 percent budget performance for that line item.
It remains unclear whether the N1.131 billion spent in 2023 was used to provide houses for the 40 members of the ninth Assembly, whose tenure ended that year, since the tenth Assembly was inaugurated the same year. The budget document was silent on this.
Records further show that most of the N1.131 billion was disbursed before the last quarter of 2023, with only N424 million spent in the fourth quarter on the houses.
What is also uncertain is whether the initiative to provide houses for Lagos lawmakers originated from the executive or the legislature. This is because Section 124(5) of the 1999 Constitution only empowers state Houses of Assembly to legislate on pensions or gratuities for former governors and their deputies.
This constitutional provision was the basis on which former Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, withheld assent in 2019 to a bill seeking “life pensions” for current and former members of the State House of Assembly, including Speakers and Deputy Speakers.
Dickson cited Section 124 of the Constitution, pointing out that while the Assembly could adjust pension amounts, it lacked the authority to expand the category of public officials entitled to pensions, which made the bill unconstitutional.
The question of pensions for state lawmakers remains controversial and underexplored. While much attention is given to the pensions and retirement benefits of former governors and deputies, little is said about similar provisions for lawmakers.
In recent years, some states have taken steps to roll back such benefits. For instance, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, during the presentation of the 2021 budget, announced his intention to repeal the Public Office Holder (Payment of Pension) Law, which granted pensions to former governors and deputies.
Although the Assembly responded 10 months later, instead of a full repeal as the governor proposed, lawmakers only reduced the benefits by 50 percent.
Similarly, in March 2024, the Abia State Assembly passed a bill revoking pensions for former governors and deputies.
In May 2024, the Benue State Assembly also repealed a law that had granted life pensions, monthly stipends, SUVs, and other benefits to former governors and their deputies.
