Rivers State Floors FG As Abuja Court Rules Against Deductions From Federation Account Into Police Trust Fund
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ruled that Section 4(1)(a) of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act 2019, is ultra vires Section 162(1) and (3) of the 1999 constitution, and the judgment has thrown a spanner into the desperate search for extra source of funding for the Nigeria Police. Section 4(1)(a) had empowered the Federal Government to deduct 0.05 per cent of any funds in the Federation Account and 0.05 per cent of the net profit of companies operating in the country to fund the police.
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On its part, Section 162(1) provides that “the Federation shall maintain a special account to be called “the Federation Account” into which shall be paid all revenues collected by the Government of the Federation….” Sub-section 3, provides that: “Any amount standing to the credit of the Federation Account shall be distributed among the Federal and State Governments and the Local Government Councils in each state on such terms and in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly.”
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LIST OF APPLICATIONS FOR REGULARISATION OF AREA COUNCIL LAND DOCUMENTS NULLIFIED/CANCELLED BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF FCT
In that suit filed by Rivers State government, the Federal High Court, per Justice Ahmed Mohammed, held that funds standing to the credit of the Federation “can only be distributed among the federal, state and local governments in each state of federation and not directly to any agency of the Federal Government, including the Nigeria Police Force.” The Rivers State government brought the suit against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Accountant-General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the Minister of Finance.
LIST OF APPLICATIONS FOR REGULARISATION OF AREA COUNCIL LAND DOCUMENTS NULLIFIED/CANCELLED BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF FCT
The court also ordered the Federal Government to refund to the Rivers State government, her share of all deductions already made. The court however refused to make similar order with respect to funds deducted from the shares of the other 35 states of the federation, on the premise that the Rivers State government did not bring the suit in a representative capacity on behalf of the other states.
For us, while there is urgent need for a better funding of the Nigeria Police, which has been grossly underfunded over the decades, it must be done in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. As confirmed by the judgment, it is not all laws made by the National Assembly that are legitimate. Where a law is deemed ultra vires, it is appropriate to challenge that law. On many occasions, the Lagos State government successfully challenged the validity of laws which contravened the principles of federalism.
