Falana Questions Legality of FG’s Housing Gifts to Judges

Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has criticised the Federal Government’s provision of houses to judges, warning that the policy could be legally challenged.

Speaking on a programme on Housing TV Africa on Thursday, Mr Falana questioned the legal basis for the gesture and called for similar housing support to be extended to university professors and other public servants.
“I was very sad when I saw that the Federal Government was handing over the keys of houses to judges, and I asked myself, ‘Under what law are we operating?’ Because it’s discriminatory and illegal,” he said.

Mr Falana said judges were entitled to accommodation but insisted that other categories of public servants deserved equal treatment. “You can’t take out judges… other citizens must be equally provided for. If you don’t do it, you can be challenged, and that is going to happen very soon, because what is good for the goose is good for the gander,” he said.
The controversy stems from the completion of 40 housing units for members of the judiciary in Abuja’s Katampe District, comprising 20 duplexes for judges of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, 10 for judges of the Federal High Court, and 10 for justices of the Court of Appeal. The project, inaugurated by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has drawn criticism from analysts who argue that executive-funded housing for judicial officers threatens the separation of powers.

Mr Falana had previously described the initiative as unconstitutional, arguing on Channels Television that the judiciary’s financial autonomy is guaranteed under the Constitution and that judges “have no business going to the executive to buy them cars and houses.”

President Bola Tinubu and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, have defended the housing project, with the CJN describing it as a milestone in supporting judicial welfare that would give judges the peace and security needed to perform their duties.