Emmanuel Ukudolo I Friday, Feb. 09, 2024
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – The Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC is in the news once more but it appears to be for a very wrong reason.
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Officials of the agency are contravening motorists and imposing fines up to N3,000 on them for plate numbers issued by the Federal Government through the FRSC and other government agencies.
Besides the fines, the agency is also compelling innocent Nigerians to apply and obtain new plate numbers for as much as N30,000.
Very disturbing is the reality that the offence, “Faded Plate Number” is not captured among the 37 contravening offences captured in the Second Schedule of the FRSC Act 1990 as amended in 2007.
What is captured in item (6) is Vehicle Plate Number Violation. This is what the FRSC is relying on to contravene vehicles.
We are at lost if this alleged offence is actually committed by Nigerians, when the FRSC is one of the issuing authorities and rightly one of those to blame for issuance of these substandard plate numbers.
Addressing this unfortunate development, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr.Samuel Agweh said the FRSC erred in making Nigerians to pay for perceived offence outside the FRSC Act committed by the Federal Government.
For him the right thing for government to do is to request Nigerians with faded plate number to return them for re-issuance with a covering notes for those affected to be able to drive in the streets without being molested by overzealous government officials.
In his reaction, S.O. Adewale said what government is doing is nothing but extortion and wonders why government is doing this at a time when Nigerians are battling to survive the harsh economic condition.
While also condemning the development, Hanacho Alozie argued that this Faded Plate Number is another area where government agencies are making ordinary Nigerians to pay for the failures of government.
But what if this development continues? “I will propose a class action against the Federal Government to compel them to act in the most responsible manner”, he said.
