A Review Of The 10% Increase In The Prescribed Fees In The FCT High Court- Abuja: A Cause For Accountability By: Hameed Ajibola Jimoh Esq.

‘This is to inform all lawyers and the general public that the digitization process of the Honourable Court via the E-filing/ Court Case Management System Platform commences on the 22^nd August, 2016. Consequently, there shall be a 10% increase in the filing fees provided in the Rules of this Honourable Court. The number of proceses filed shall also increase by one extra copy. Subsequently, lawyers, law firms will be able to access all processes filed by them via the platform. We appeal for total compliance to enable us serve you better.’. (Underlining is that of the writer of this paper for emphasis). From the foregoing, since the 22^nd day of August, 2016, the increase of the said 10% has always been charged and collected. Unfortunately, the writer of this paper has observed that members of the public (including lawyers) continue to make the said payment without receiving any service as provided by the said notice. Furthermore, the writer of this paper observes that upon several payments of the said 10% made by either lawyers or litigants, including the writer of this paper, there has been no single process that has been E-Filed as undertaken by the Management of the Court under any platform. For instance, the writer of this paper has paid 10% since 2017 and has continued to pay the sum but none of his processes has been E-filed. Furthermore, the writer of this paper has observed from each of the tellers that the said 10% has always been paid to a private limited liability company’s bank account through the ASO Savings & Loans PLC, with the account number ‘0126244817’, the company which is known as ‘YWC TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED’ with the registration number ‘648972’, and having its details as contained in a public search conducted by the writer of this paper that via the Corporate Affairs Commission’s public search platform. However, the writer of this paper observed that in the year 2017, as shown on some of his tellers, the account number of the YWC into which the writer of this paper paid 10% was ‘012002179848013’. Furthermore, just of recent, the writer of this paper discovered that the said YWC has also been collecting 10% of all affidavits for either change of name, etc, (where an affidavit is supposed to be N500.00 only and no more) without any legal justification and or basis, as the said public notice only permits the said 10% only for the purpose of E-filing of court’s processes. The writer of this paper then  wrote a complaint to the Chief Registrar of the Court challenging the illegal fees, the letter which is dated and acknowledged by the Chief Registrar’s office on the 22^nd day of October, 2018. Also, the ASO Savings Bank staff confirmed that the Bank has been collecting this 10% on all these non-court’s processes upon the instruction given to them by the YWC, the instruction which according to the Court Management, the Court was not aware of. Though, up till the moment of writing this article, there is no official response to the letter written by the writer of this paper. The writer of this paper finds it very unbearable that the management of the Court would contract such services to a private company to render electronic services of E-filing of court’s processes but has only been receiving and generating funds from the unsuspecting members of the public, lawyers and litigants without having rendered the required services, since the 22^nd day of August, 2016 till date and continuously! Also, no monitoring or effective monitoring is carried out on the activities of the said private company- YWC- in the public interest, even within the Court’s premises. Also, on a personal assessment as to how much that would have been generated illegally, the writer of this paper estimated that where 100 persons pay the sum of N50.00 each on a day, for 20 days a month and for a year, it totals the sum of twenty-four million naira only  (N24,000,000.00), whereas, in this case, the sum of 10% paid by any payer is not fixed at any particular sum rather, it is based on 10% of whatever the prescribed fee payable. One would also consider the amount that would have been illegally generated and received from the non-courts processes! Therefore, the writer of this paper considers this act of generating money from the members of the public without rendering services undertaken as an extortion, exploitation, financial corruption, etc., hence the need for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate into this allegation and to bring any person corruptly involved and or found to have been engaged and or involved in financial crimes to book and for the illegal fees or all generated fees to be retrieved including whatever that has been illegally gained back to the government’s treasury as a trust property, as no services have been rendered since the said August till date. Furthermore, some other questions/pieces of information to inquire about from the management of the Court pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 are:

1. Who are those actually involved in the receipt and sharing formula of the said 10% increase fees?
2. What is the total amount of moneys (both in figures and in words) generated and or recovered from the said 10% increase from the 22^nd day of August, 2016, till date?;

• What is the total expenditures and balance (in figures and in words only and not in a broken down or detailed form) on the said generated sum from the 22^nd day of August, 2016, till date?;

1. Where is the Certified True Copy of the contract agreement made between the said Company (ies) and the Court’s Management on the 10% increase?;
2. What purpose is the said 10% increase on the filing fees meant for?;
3. Was there any legal basis for the YWC to extend the said 10% increase to non-courts processes fees?;

• Which platform has been designed through which the said Court processes would be accessed as provided in the said notice?;
• Is the said public notice real or a scam?

Finally, this above discourse in the belief of the writer of this paper would serve a great accountability to the stakeholders in the 10% increase fees and for others in similar situation to learn and be vigilant that their own day is soonest! The writer of this paper encourages members of the public, payers of any financial transaction, lawyers and litigants to always hold those stakeholders accountable for their rights whenever they are denied and this would bring a great development to the nation. Also, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) hereby called upon to investigate into this allegation and to bring any person corruptly involved and or found to have been engaged and or involved in financial crimes to book and for the illegal fees or all generated fees to be retrieved whatever that has been illegally gained back to the government’s treasury, as no services have been rendered since the said August till date. And the era of suffering and smiling has to be over now, forever, and not later! e-mail: hameed_ajibola@yahoo.com]]>