THE Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) yesterday denied social media reports that a Federal High Court (FHC) in Lagos nullified its power to issue fines, tickets and impound offenders’ vehicles.
Speaking in Abuja, the commission’s Public Relations Officer, Mr. Bisi Kazeem, said FRSC was aware of the post on social media questioning its powers to punish traffic offenders.
He said: “The truth is that there is no judgment of the FHC Lagos on the Tope Alabi case as is being circulated. “What happened was that one Barrister Tope Alabi challenged the powers of the FRSC to arrest him and impound his vehicle and make him pay fines for offences alleged.
“Justice Tsoho of the FHC held that FRSC had no such powers. This was in September 2014. “However, in a case on all fours with the Tope Alabi case earlier in March, same year, 2014, same Justice Tsoho in the case of Bren Williams & Anor v FRSC held that FRSC had statutory powers to issue notice of offence, arrest and detain vehicles suspected to have been used to commit traffic offences.”
According to Kazeem, on that same day Justice Tsoho delivered another judgment similar to the Tope Alabi case in Emmanuel Ofoegbu v FRSC. He said the judge held that FRSC had no powers to set deadlines for motorists to change over to new number plates and that it would be ultra vires the powers of FRSC.
He said the decision was challenged on Appeal and the appellate court held, inter alia, in October 2014: “That FRSC had statutory powers conferred by its enabling laws made pursuant to the Nigerian Constitution to regulate the use of number plates, design and set deadlines for change over to new ones.
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