Breaking:  Court stops FG’s deduction from Federation Account to fund NPF

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has outlawed the practice where the Federal Government FG 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 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 jurist held that 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 the Federation, including levies and taxes, into the Federation Action for sharing among the three tiers of government.

Consequently, the judge ordered the FG 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 Act.

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.

The Nation