HoR Dismisses NASC Building Allegations

By Tracy Moses

The Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D., GCON, has dismissed claims linking him to an alleged ₦18.6 billion irregularity involving the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) headquarters building.

The clarification followed recent media reports quoting the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), which suggested that the Speaker failed to account for funds related to the NASC building project.

In response to the claims, the Speaker’s Office issued a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, stressing that the Speaker has no involvement, directly or indirectly, in the award, supervision, or payment of contracts within the National Assembly or any of its agencies. The statement explained that all contractual matters are handled exclusively by the administrative bureaucracy, which operates under statutory leadership and established procurement procedures.

The statement further emphasized that the NASC headquarters project was initiated several years ago, long before the inauguration of the current 10th National Assembly leadership. Its conception, award, and execution took place under previous administrations. In line with the National Assembly’s management structure, political leaders, including the Speaker, do not participate in executing or approving contracts within the Service Commission or any administrative unit.

“The political leadership of the National Assembly does not have anything to do with such matters,” the statement added, describing attempts to link the Speaker or House leadership to the project as “factually incorrect and misleading.”

The Office of the Speaker urged SERAP, the media, and the public to respect institutional boundaries and refrain from attributing administrative or procurement decisions to the Speaker’s office. The clarification reinforces the distinction between political oversight and administrative execution and aims to correct widespread misconceptions surrounding the issue.