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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

He also pointed 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.

It has also been 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.

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

However, the project has also drawn criticism from other quarters, with critics describing it as tantamount to a bribe. (Superfm News)

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