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Wike Hails Judiciary Over Victory On PTF Case …Court Declares Deduction From Federation Account Unconstitutional
Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike has hailed the Federal High Court in Abuja for its judgement, last Wednesday, which barred the Federal Government from deducting funds from the Federation Account to fund the Nigeria Police Force and other agencies not listed in the Constitution.
He said the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Act which the Federal Government relied on to deduct funds from the Federation Account was in contravention of the 1999 Constitution.
Wike, who spoke to journalists shortly after returning from Germany where he undertook a tour of the Rivers State Government’s Legacy 600 plane that had been parked in the European country for 10 years, described the judgement by Justice Ahmed Mohammed as a victory for democracy.
The Rivers State Government had filed a suit to stop the Federal Government from deducting the funds for the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Scheme.
According to Wike, it was wrong for the government to have conceived the idea of deducting the funds because funding the police was a responsibility of the Federal Government.
He added that states should be allowed to decide on how and when to support the police, but not to make it an arbitrary deduction.
The governor also thanked his legal team for a job well done, saying that his administration was not afraid of an appeal.
“For me, it is a victory for democracy. And I have always told people, it is not whether you must win or not, but it is a matter of when you see issues that you think are in contravention of our Constitution and other laws, there is nothing wrong for you to challenge it, 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 not the Federal Government arbitrarily deducting our money from the Federation Account and putting it into Police Trust Fund. I don’t think that that is right, and I thank God that, today, the court has made a clear pronouncement on it.”
The governor acknowledged that though the National Assembly was constitutionally empowered to enact laws, in enacting the Police Trust Fund Act, they went beyond their powers by contravening the provisions of the Constitution of Nigeria.
Speaking further on the order of the court that the state government should be refunded the money deducted from its share to fund the police, Wike said the order would put an end to impunity.
“We are happy that the court has said that they should refund us all the money deducted, and luckily, the principal parties, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, the Accountant General, Attorney General Office they are all involved in the case.
“It is not about Rivers State, but it is about the impunity, it is about the violation of the Constitution as if anybody can wake up one early morning and just decide to do one or two things, which is wrong. I am happy that the decision we took, we are not wrong, and I thank my legal team.”
Earlier, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had declared as unconstitutional the Federal Government’s deduction of funds directly from the Federation Account to fund the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in line with Section 4(1)(a) and (b) of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (Establishment) Act 2019.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed made the declaration while delivering judgement suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/511/2020 filed by the Rivers State Government against the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Accountant General of the Federation, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and the Minister of Finance, last Wednesday.
Mohammed asserted 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 0.05per cent of any funds in the Federation Account and 0.005per cent of the net profit of companies operating in the country to fund the police are unconstitutional.
The judge said the provisions of Section 4(1) (a) and (b) in the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Act are inconsistent to the provisions of Section 162(1) and (3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, which explicitly state that the payment of total revenue collected by the Government of the Federation, including levies and taxes, must be paid into the Federation Account for sharing among the three tiers of government.
Mohammed said the court agreed with Rivers State Government’s contention that, by virtue of Section 162 (3) of the Nigerian Constitution, funds standing to the credit of the Federation Account “can only be distributed among the Federal, State and Local Governments in each state of the federation and not directly to any agency of the Federal Government, including the Nigeria Police Force.”
He said 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, he said the provisions of Section 4(1) (a) and (b) in the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Act are at variance with the provision of Section 162(3) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
Mohammed stated that since the police was an agency of the Federal Government, it was the duty of the Federal Government to establish and maintain the Nigeria Police Force, and not the states.
He ordered the Federal Government to refund to the Rivers State Government its share of the funds from the Federation Account that had been illegally deducted since it commenced the deduction of funds based on the provisions of Section 4(1) (a) and (b) in the Nigeria Police Trust Fund Act.
Mohammed also granted reliefs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 as prayed by the plaintiff, and in respect of reliefs 6 and 8, that relate to refund, the judge said they should apply to Rivers State.
The trial judge, meanwhile, declined to grant similar order of refund to the other 35 states on the ground that they were not parties in the suit.
According to him, Rivers State, as the plaintiff in the suit, did not file it on behalf of other states.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
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RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.