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Hon.Tambuwal ALMOST three months after its introduction, the House of Representatives yesterday critcised the number plates and driver’s licence by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), saying it is not only economically oppressive but also lacks value to national security.
The House directed its Committee on FRSC to investigate the rationale, necessity and circumstances of the planned phasing out of the extant vehicle number plates and present licences.
The FRSC has also been advised to put on hold the implementation of the policy on new vehicle plate numbers and licences pending the outcome of the investigation.
According to the Corps Marshal of FRSC, Osita Chidoka, a minimum of N192 billion will be generated from the issuance of the new driver’s licence and number plates in the next one year.
Of the amount, N72 billion would be realised from driver’s licences while the remaining N120 billion would come from the sales of vehicle number plates.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who launched the new driver’s licence and vehicle number plates on September 2, paid N6,000 for his new driver’s licence.
Drivers and vehicle owners in Nigeria have till August 31, 2012, to comply with the new rule when they will pay for a private driver’s licence and number plate at N6,000 and N15,000.
The Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Bussiness, Sam Tsokwa, yesterday brought up the issue under Point of Order and as a matter of urgent public importance.
He noted that the FRSC has veered off its responsibilities of managing road traffic and maintaining safety on Nigerian roads by turning itself into a money-making agency against constitutional provisions.
Tsokwa argued that since inception, the FRSC had, at will, phased out, introduced and re-introduced new number paltes and vehicle licences when it pleased, without considering the feelings of Nigerians.
He said: “At every instance that new vehicle number plates and vehicle licences are introduced and implemented, vehicle owners get poorer as they are made, against their wishes and desires, to pay more than before for the same commodity.
“It is worrisome that the new introduction would cost Nigerian vehicle owners at least additional 40 per cent of the existing rate to purchase new number plates and licenses.”
The lawmaker queried the rationale behind the commission’s disregard for the Constitution, saying rather than concentrate on ensuring safety on Nigerian roads, the agency has made itself a court for prosecuting, judging and convicting traffic offenders.
Tsokwa said: “As a creation of a statute, there is nowhere in the law where the Commission is mandated to generate funds for the government. But because it has decided to convert itself into a revenue-generating agency, without consultation, it would just change the number plates and licences, backed with lofty reasons that are mostly debatable at the end of the day.”
SOURCE: The Nation, 16 November 2011. http://www.thenationonlineng.net
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