The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has delivered a judgment prohibiting the Federal Government from deducting funds from the Federation Account to fund the Nigerian Police Force and other agencies not listed in the constitution to be funded through the federation account.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed made the declaration while delivering judgment on suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/511/2020 filed by the attorney general of Rivers State on behalf of the Rivers State Government against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) joining the Accountant General of the Federation, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the Minister of Finance to the suit, on Wednesday, 26th of January, 2022.
The court in her ruling stated categorically that the provisions of Section 4(1)(a) and (b) of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act 2019, that requires the Federal Government to deduct 0.05 per cent of any funds in the Federation Account and 0.005 per cent of the net profit of companies operating in the country to fund the police are unconstitutional as it conflicts with relevant sections of the constitution.
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Accordingly, the Lord Justice stated that by the provision of Section 162(3) of the Constitution, no other entity, outside the three tiers of government is entitled to partake in the sharing of funds standing to the credit of the Federation Account. Based on this therefore, the said Section 4(1) (a) and (b) in the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Act is inconsistent with the provision of Section 162(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended and therefore unconstitutional and void to the extent of its inconsistency.