₦airaland Forum

LASTMA can’t impose fine on traffic offenders – Court
On September 22, 2011 · In News

By INNOCENT ANABA
LAGOS- Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Lagos, has declared that Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, lacks the power to impose fine on traffic offenders.

Delivering judgment in the suit filed by Mr. Jonathan Odutola, Justice Abang declared that sections 9, 11, 12 and 13 of the law establishing LASTMA is unconstitutional and of no effect.

The judge not only awarded N500,000 against LASTMA, but stated that the four sections of its law were contrary to Section 36 of the Constitution, which gives the right of fair- hearing to every Nigerian.

He held that while LASTMA has the power to arrest traffic offenders, it does not have the powers to impose fine on them, adding that instead, it is a court of law that has power to impose fine on anybody who contravenes the law.

The judge submitted that the imposition of fine on any traffic offender by LASTMA amounted to being a judge in its own cause.

He said: “Sections 9, 11, 12, and 13 of the law establishing LASTMA is unconstitutional. It is against the spirit of the Section 36 of the Constitution, which gives right of fair-hearing to every Nigerian. Moreover, that would amount to being a judge in your own cause.”

Odutola had dragged LASTMA to court for unlawfully impounding his car and imposing and slamming an illegal fine on him.

In the suit, he stated that last March, while driving his car on Third Mainland Bridge, it suddenly developed some mechanical problems.

According to him, to ensure that the car did not obstruct free flow of traffic, he immediately called a towing-van which towed the vehicle completely out of the road.

He said he also paid towing-van operator some money for the service rendered.

Odutola stated that he also called his mechanics to come and rescue him and the vehicle, adding that as soon as the mechanics arrived, some policemen patrolling the bridge who apparently wanted him to give them money refused them to work on the car.

When he insisted, Odutola and the mechanics were thoroughly beaten and harassed.

The policemen then called LASTMA officials at Sura, Lagos Island, who immediately came and towed the applicant’s car to their office and consequently slammed him with a fine if he must get his car back.

Eyin ero Libya ekabo, emi len ba kakiri?

I tort na only stretch-marks africans dey get?

I didn't believe the info initially but Tinubu doesn't take trouble of elucidating matter like this, something is fishy, Tinibu's hands are not very clean on this

Political Ashewo

^^^ thanks, that may not be a bad idea

Routinely travel- Manchester, Belfast, Edinburgh and sometimes London

Hello house, can somebody send me address/links where i get Nigerian Films/Music in UK and Canada . Work shuffles me around these countries lately.

Yeah, Gaddafi did blah blah blah for the Libyans maybe you are correct, but he missed and messed it totally, how,  why?
He didn't know when to quit power honourably[b][/b]

Baawa, U talk true.
Apart from fluent Queen's English there is nothing that interest me in this Fani Fool. There is no tiny honor in the man. Eridin, Ode, Oponu

It is only in countries like Nigeria, do graduates become headache

OP, i don't know your date of birth but i think you should celebrate it on April 1st of every year until your ganglia co-ordinated brain tells you of God's existence. You read so much, felt enlightened so much and reason so much until you know everything about nothing. Looking for God in the space (I laugh you in Egba)

Rice farmers with akete (remember all those American war film wey we dey watch when we dey small), Shaolin temple with baba onirugbon (long bear bear) and kung fu (Bruce lee) apart from all these, if u call china, na fake and cheap materials dey come my mind.

@dipo2much, l.a.j don talk my mind. Instead of marrying wosila, i go take my money buy dog. There is no bigger deception than good looking face, gbogbo owun to dan ko ni wura

@Ashiri1, you are a serious olodo. Alfa burnt u dey ask of him bear-bear. BankPHB (and her fancy adverts) is no more, your investment in it is no more. The new company is not a result of acquisition or merger, it is fully and wholly owned by the FG. Se eti dun e ni?

Gbogbo owun to dan ko ni wura

@ OP it remains a paper without monetary value for life. pele o

Will split saliva on my left palm thrice (make person no come turn goat) and pick the money with it fast fast

I love the Igbos, they are very enterprising. I love the educated hausas, they are very accommodating and humble

Why put the cart before the horse?.
If a guy tells you to get pregnant before he marries you, he is simply telling you your worth.

'Omo ni mo gba mio gba ya'  meaning 'na pikin i take, i no collect him mama' was very popular when i was growing up reason being some silly girls get pregnant for a randy guy in the name of love and promises of marriage.

Ni ipari, get married, get pregnant and get children.

Problem with SLS sponsors is that they do not know that Nigerians though slowly are getting enlightened. They should have looked for another way of achieving their goals without being rude to our senses.

Abeg,Is there a scale for measuring beauty, is there a universal agreement on who is beautiful and otherwise?.
so OP in your eyes u beautiful abi? cele tan e

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder and one man's shit is another man's lollipop, so forget that thing wey u dey yarn.

Think of it, will any serious and responsible man want you wey dem don chop finish or prefer your so called wowo friend wey still get some innocence to share with her hubby?

I pity you.

Men of the Marine division of the Nigerian Police with the help of local divers, Wednesday, recovered the body of Mr. Al-Mustaim Alade Abaniwonda, aged 56, who reportedly jumped into the Lagos lagoon on Monday at about 3.pm.

The deceased was the Peoples Democratic Part, PDP, senatorial candidate for Lagos East in the April 9, 2011 National Assembly election and whose name was among the list of 10 nominees sent to President Goodluck Jonathan for consideration as minister from Lagos State.


According to reports, the body was brought to the shore at about midday and was quickly taken to his residence at Victoria Garden City.

A family source told Vanguard, that plans were already on for his internment at Victoria Court, a privately run cemetery along the Lekki-Epe Expressway, later today.

PDP stalwarts, party supporters and well wishers stormed the deceased’s residence to sympathise with the bereaved family.

I don't have problem with their tenure ending or their being sacked. What i am curious about is their replacements. For all we know, somebody may have started making 2015 moves already. afterall this is the best time to get their agent into the right places in preparation for next election. Naija watch out

The INEC office just revealed they were not actually sacked but their tenure as commissioners has ended.13 commissioners were affected in all

The news is currently on AIT station

Official information from INEC Headoffice reveals that the electoral body has sacked 11 resident commissioners. They include the Resident Commssioners of Abia, Bauchi, Benue, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Gombe, Taraba, Ogun, Oyo, ebonyi, enugu states

The reason for thier removal is yet to be revealed
more info later

The body of a Lagos politician, Mr. Al-Mustaim Alade Abaniwonda, who jumped into the Lagos lagoon yesterday evening is yet to be recovered, sources within the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, told P.M.NEWS this morning.

The politician, who was 56 as at the time he committed suicide, was a ministerial nominee who could not make it to the screening of nominees by the Senate recently.

Abaniwonda, a die-hard loyalist of Chief Bode George, had lost the senatorial seat in the last election to Senator Gbenga Ashafa, who now represents Lagos East Senatorial District.

P.M.NEWS learnt that he spent a lot of money during the campaign and was supposed to be compensated with the ministerial slot. He was however denied the slot under circumstances which could not be ascertained as at the time of filing this report.

When P.M.NEWS contacted the party’s secretariat over the incident this morning, Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Barrister Gani Taofeek, said a search party had been on the lagoon in search of the body of Abaniwonda, who jumped into the lagoon after driving his car, a Toyota Camry with registration number MU 555 AAA to the Leventis Bus Stop in Marina.

Explaining how the incident occurred, his driver, Wasiu, who drove him to the spot, said they were coming from a bank on the Lagos Island when he told the driver that he was pressed and would need to use the toilet. He rebuffed the driver’s advice to wait till they get to the CSS Bookshop building located on Broad Street.

According to Wasiu, who spoke with journalists at the scene of the incident, “he ate his food after we left the bank and he told me he was going to use a toilet down there. That was all I knew until I heard people shouting.

“He was still struggling to get out of the lagoon when I got there but he later went down inside the water.”

Eyewitness account has it that when the politician jumped into the lagoon, he was still able to stand upright at a shallow part of the lagoon but he deliberately walked into a deeper section of the lagoon.

The late Epe-born politician’s son, who rushed to the scene with some other siblings while the rescue efforts were still going on, denied that his father took his life as a result of frustration from his failure in politics, saying he was lively and happy while the family celebrated the birthday of their mother the previous day.

“If he is still in the water up till now, and you told me it happened about an hour ago, then he must have died because he is diabetic. There is a limit to which his lungs would be able to hold him under water,” his son said.

@logica, i really wish i can agree with you but imagine

1. The driver from the interview appeared to have repeated the exact words of the man, the statement is a direct repetition.
2. 4 years older than Nigeria, born and most likely lived all through the years, was pressed enough to drop on the bridge, removed all his clothes, wallet, wristwash all the time saying 'mo fe lose gaa' all this drama to commit suicide or wetin?. I am still looking for a better theory but for now i still want to repeat 'No be Ordinary Eyes' awon iya lowo si