Lagos – The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) on Tuesday said it would begin enforcement of the new drivers’ licence and number plate on Aug 1.

The Lagos State Sector Commander, Mr Chidi Nkwonta, said that the decision followed the new court judgment.

“This new judgment made it very clear that as from Aug. 1, FRSC should impound. "So, Nigerians must discountenance that first misleading judgment and take this one because we are going to continue enforcement as from Aug. 1, 2014.

“We never asked anybody to stop (processing licences). Anybody who stopped ab initio stopped at his own peril. “Neither did the court ask anybody to stop, that judgment never said anybody should stop.

“So anybody who did so did it at his own risk and the deadline was supposed to be June 30.

“Now we have extended it to Aug. 1, because we needed to go on appeal on the other matter.

“But right now, there is another judgment which
says we can go on.

“So, while we are still waiting for the appeal we
are going to go on with this other judgment.“
Justice Peter Umeadi of a Federal High Court in
Anambra on June 30, had ruled in a suit filed by
Chief Ajefo Ekwo challenging FRSC’s powers to
enforce new drivers’ licence and number plate.
Umeadi said that the respondent’s directive to
change old drivers’ licence and number plates to
new was legal, valid, subsisting and in conformity
with the FRSC’s 2007 Act and the National Road
Traffic Regulations of 2012.

Nkwonta, however, said that the recent judgment
had put aside the earlier judgment of the Lagos
High Court ruling that the corps had no authority
to produce and fix deadline for the documents.
The FRSC commander said that the earlier
judgment was given in error and the commission
would stand by the new judgment while appealing
against the earlier judgment.

He said that the command had not failed to
process the vehicle documents for new applicants
that patronised the commission after the initial
judgment.

Nkwonta said that all the registration centres and
18 additional work stations in all parts of Lagos
were functional and the network was effective.
He said that the commission had improved in the
processes as well as working at weekends to
make it easy for applicants.

Justice John Tsoho of the Federal High Court in
Lagos on March 26 declared that the FRSC had
no legal authority to impose new number plates
on motorists in the country.

The judge also held that “the ongoing exercise by
the FRSC to replace the old number plate with a
new one is illegal and unconstitutional because
there is no law empowering it to carry out the
exercise.’’

Justice Tsoho delivered the judgment in a suit
filed by a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr Emmanuel
Ofoegbu, against the FRSC.

In the suit, Ofoegbu had challenged the power of
the commission to impound vehicles of motorists
who failed to acquire the new number plates.
The plaintiff argued that there was no law validly
made in accordance with the constitution
prohibiting the use of the old number plates.
Meanwhile, Justice Umeadi declared that FRSC
has power to impound any vehicle which fails to
register for a new number plate and arrest any
motorist who fails to obtain the new drivers’
licence.

He said that such offender should be prosecuted
according to law as from Aug.1. (NAN)

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2014/07/frsc-enforce-new-drivers-licence-number-plate-aug-1/

Una go impound tire!!!

gud

Thunder will fire anyone who plan to impound my car,I go dey carry cutlass now