Rivers and police trust fund deductions

RECENTLY, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja declared as unconstitutional, the direct deduction of funds by the Federal Government from the Federation Account to fund the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). While delivering judgment in suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/511/2020 instituted by the Rivers State government against the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the Minister of Finance, the presiding judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, gave the court’s interpretation of sections 4(1)(a) and (b) of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act 2019. Justice Mohammed said that the provisions requiring the Federal Government to deduct 0.05 per cent of funds from the Federation Account as well as 0.005 per cent of the net profit of companies operating in Nigeria to fund the Nigeria Police were unconstitutional. The judge further said that these provisions were inconsistent with sections 162(1) and (3) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The sections of the constitution state, without ambiguity, that the revenue collected by the Government of the Federation, including levies and taxes, shall be paid into the Federation Account and that these would in turn be shared among the three tiers of government.

The victory of the Rivers State government in this matter is a victory for the canvassers and believers in federalism as the sure and true way to go for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Time and time again, it has been said that the structure of governmental practice is at the core of the various ills that plague the country. With a federal practice that has often been dubbed pseudo, where the states are weak and the central is almost like a behemoth, growth and national movement have been almost impossible. The centre is unwieldy, and this is the main reason many Nigerians have called for a restructuring of the country in such a way that the centre would be made accountable, manageable and less monumental. Due to the enormous powers at its disposal, the Federal Government does not even seem to know its boundary. This is why it intrudes into functions that are not its and trespasses on the constitutional borders of the states of the federation. It thus provokes animosity and feuds.

We are happy that the Rivers State government, rather than engage in face-offs with the central government, approached the court of law to test the validity of the sections of the constitution in question. By the pronouncement of the court, which we agree with, section 162 (3) of the constitution explicitly and unambiguously states that funds which stand to the credit of the Federation Account are only distributable among the federal, state and local governments in each state of the federation. The drafters of the constitution, in this regard, did not and could not have meant to say that such funds could be distributed to and among the agencies of the Federal Government. By deducting monies from state governments to fund the Nigeria Police Fund, the Federal Government apparently stepped beyond its constitutional bounds.

Even commonsense does not favour the Federal Government in this matter. Why would it magisterially allocate monies that do not belong to it alone to one of its agencies? The Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike’s reaction to the judgment is apt. He said: “It is a victory for democracy. And I have always told people, it is not whether you must win or not. When you see issues that you think are in contravention of our constitution and other laws, there is nothing wrong for you to challenge them, so that the right thing can be done. After all, if the money is given back to us, we can still on our own say ‘police, we want to support you with this.’ But we do not want the Federal Government to arbitrarily deduct our money from the Federation Account and give it to the Police Trust Fund.”

There are so many infractions that the Federal Government is committing simply because, by its intimidating constitution, other tiers of the government are afraid to spar with it. This has led to so many things being done which are not according to the law. Nigeria still suffers a hangover from decades of military rule. To get away from the suffocating claws of the Federal Government, we appeal to states and individuals to test the potency of the constitution by instituting many more suits against it. We are delighted that the Federal Government is proceeding on appeal against the judgment. This is the right thing to do. This will show those who attribute ineluctable powers to it that it is also subject to the law.

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