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.today.ng/news/frsc-to-enforce-new-drivers-licence-number-plate-aug-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=frsc-to-enforce-new-drivers-licence-number-plate-aug-1

No shaking! Nothing will happen.

Some officers may lose a limb to this.

i just wonder billions that would go to the pocket of frsc

If FRSC is going to obey this latest "judgement" giving when judiciary is on strike, because it favours FRSC, Nigerians shall obey the earlier judgment.
since the new Judgment was given in error and the Nigerians would stand by the old judgment while appealing against the New judgment.

What it means is that, FRSC, Police, Lasma , VIO and so on will arrest any one with old plate number.