A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Federal Government to refund Rivers State illegal deductions from the federation account.
The court also 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.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed, in a judgment on Wednesday, held that the provisions of Section 4(1)(a) & (b) of the PTF Act 2019, requiring the deduction 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 Nation reports that Justice Mohammed said the provisions are contrary to the provisions of Section 162(1) & (3) of the Constitution, requiring the payment of total revenue collected by the Government of the Federation, including levies and taxes, into the Federation Action for sharing among the three tiers of government.
The judge held that the NPF is an agency of the Fed Govt, whose sole responsibility it is to fund the police.
The judge ordered the Fed Govt to refund to the Rivers State Government its share of the funds from the Federation Account that have been wrongly deducted since the FG commenced the deduction of funds in accordance with the provisions of the PTF A
The judgment was on a suit filed by the Rivers Government against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Accountant General of the Federation, Auditor General of the Federation and the Minister of Finance.
