Court outlaws direct funding of Police from federation account

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday outlawed the practice where the Federal Government deducts funds directly from the Federation Account to fund the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in line with Section 4(1)(a) & (b) of the Police Trust Fund (PTF) Act 2019.

The trial Judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, in a judgment, held that the provisions of Section 4(1)(a) & (b) of the PTF Act 2019, requiring the deduction of 0.05 per cent of any funds in the Federation Account and 0.005 per cent of the net profit of companies operating in Nigeria to fund the police are unconstitutional.

The Judge held that the provisions are contrary to the provisions of Section 162(1) & (3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As amended), requiring the payment of total revenue collected by the Government of the Federation, including levies and taxes, into the Federation Account for sharing among the three tiers of government.

Justice Mohammed held that the Nigeria Police Force is an agency of the Federal Government whose sole responsibility it is to fund the Nigeria Police Force.

The judge ordered the Federal Government to refund to the Rivers State Government its share of the funds from the Federation Account that has been wrongly deducted since the federal government commenced the deduction of funds in accordance with the provisions of the PTF Act.

The judgment of the federal high court followed a suit brought before the court by the Rivers state government against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Accountant General of the Federation and two others.

Details soon…

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