Falana threatens to sue FG over luxury houses for judges

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Human rights lawyer Femi Falana has threatened to challenge the Federal Government in court over its handover of newly built luxury houses to judges in Abuja’s Katampe district.

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He said the gesture was discriminatory and illegal, warning that legal action against it was imminent.

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Falana spoke in a video shared by NewsCentral on Thursday, faulting the Federal Government for extending exclusive housing benefits to judges while other categories of public servants were left out.

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He said he was disturbed after watching television coverage of the handover ceremony, adding that he could not place the exercise under any known law.

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“We have got to a stage in the country where we need to challenge the special privileges given to the rich and top public officers in the country.

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“Yesterday, I was watching the telly, 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 we are operating from, because it’s discriminatory and illegal. You must treat us equally in our country,” he said.

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The lawyer clarified that his objection was not to judges receiving accommodation but to the unequal treatment of other public servants, who he said deserved similar consideration.

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“You can’t take out judges. Judges are entitled to accommodation, by the way. They must live comfortably; they must work securely, but other citizens must be equally provided for,” he said.

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Falana warned that the arrangement would soon be tested in court, insisting that the government could not extend such privileges to one class of officials while ignoring others.

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“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.

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He cited university lecturers as an example, noting that professors who render critical service to society are poorly remunerated and, in many cases, no longer have access to staff quarters.

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“If you have a professor who also has to render services to society, and those professors are not paid well, nobody talks of providing houses for them now. They were living in rented quarters. These days, there are not enough quarters for them, so we must also look at that,” he said.

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He also pointed to about 21 governors now serving in the National Assembly, who he said continued to draw legislative salaries and allowances while retaining housing entitlements both in their states and in Abuja, unlike long-serving civil servants who retire with nothing.

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“Governors who are in the National Assembly, about 21 of them, are taking salaries from the National Assembly and jumbo allowances, and they are also entitled to a house in the state where they govern for four or eight years, and another house in Abuja. And you have a civil servant who has worked for 35 years, and he’s just turned out at the end of the day,” he said.

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Falana insisted that equality before the law must be respected across board.

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“So, we must insist that equality before the law in our country is respected,” he said.

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The PUNCH had earlier reported that the housing project is part of an FCT Administration initiative under Minister Nyesom Wike to construct 40 judges’ quarters in Katampe, with batches already commissioned by President Bola Tinubu for Federal High Court and Court of Appeal judges.

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Wike has said the houses would be allocated on an owner-occupier basis, subject to the President’s approval.

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The project has also drawn criticism from other quarters, with critics describing it as tantamount to a bribe.

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