Lagos High Court judge, Akintayo Aluko, restored some hope in the judiciary with his January 17, 2025 ruling on faded vehicle number plates. He was emphatic in holding the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) responsible for service not satisfactorily delivered. Justice Aluko restrained the FRSC from arresting any vehicle with a faded number plate.

The judge also ruled that no fine or punishment should be imposed on any driver of a vehicle with a faded number plate. From 2022, the FRSC under Corp Marshal, Oyeyemi Boboye, began to traumatise motorists whose number plates were considered blurred and ineligible to its operatives.

His successor, Dauda Biu, extended the operation beyond the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). A concerned Nigerian, Chinwike Chamberlain Ezebube, took the bull by the horns when he approached the court praying that the FRSC, having issued the number plates, should be held responsible for the poor quality of their products.

Before Aluko’s judgment, various fines were imposed on defaulting vehicle owners. And in typical fashion, some of the fines went into the pockets of operatives who conducted themselves as prosecutor and judge. Those who could not pay had their vehicles impounded.

Citizen Ezebube has become the voice of millions of vehicle owners who are condemned to face some unruly operatives with no respect for the FRSC uniform issued to them.

There were instances of motorists being forced out of their vehicles after confiscation of vital papers. It is difficult, in some cases, to distinguish officers and men of the FRSC from street urchins.

The statutory powers granted them did not imply that they should constitute nuisance on our highways by jumping in front of oncoming vehicles, all in the name of enforcement. Unfortunately, prior to Aluko’s bold statement, the Lagos State government joined the FRSC in pushing vehicle owners to the wall.

In 2023, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transportation, Hafiz Toriola, implied that faded number plates favoured criminals. According to Toriola, under the nascent security challenges across the nation, the use of faded number plates would make it difficult to track persons who violated the law. He backed his argument with a Lagos State Law, signed to that effect, in 2018.

He was emphatic in holding the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) responsible for service not satisfactorily delivered.

The obsession with new number plates began during the tenure of Dr. Olu Agunloye, who succeeded Prof. Wole Soyinka, as Head of the FRSC. The old background of black, changed to white and numbers and alphabets were printed in blue. That was from 1994.

When Haladu Hananiya, a retired Army Major General took over in 1994, some officers of the FRSC seized the opportunity to embolden themselves against the people. The period of overzealousness took over. Vehicles which bore the pre 1994 number plates were impounded and owners charged to court.

In Lagos, the FRSC headquarters became a grandiose motor park where operatives and touts worked together. The moment a seized vehicle was towed to Ojodu, towing van owners smiled at the bank. Vulcanizers had a field day making money fixing deflated tyres. The FRSC must not be turned into the Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS).

There is no written document signed by President Bola Tinubu empowering people who should be concerned with safety on our roads to wear the toga of tax collectors.

There are more pressing problems that should worry the FRSC. As a paramilitary organisation, they should synergize with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to get rid of drug infested drivers on our roads.

The alarming accident rates in the country deserve more attention than fading number plates. Corp Marshal Shehu Mohammed must call his men to order and do the needful as ruled by Justice Aluko. Breaking the law is worse when the court is not obeyed. The challenges on the road are legion.

Tankers explode more regularly these days, smugglers speed like demons with vehicles that remind pedestrians of junkyards and there are more disoriented drivers than pedestrian crossings on our highways. The Corp Marshal, by his background, should be interested in revenue generation.

He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CITN). With a bachelor’s degree in accounting, the good news is that his post graduate degrees are in Business Administration and Project Management. Mohammed should look at businesses and projects that can boost the finances of the FRSC.

The nation is blessed with enough arable land that can grow money spinning farms. Food production is a noble venture. Partnership with the private sector in real estate is advised. We look forward to a refined FRSC where courtesy would take precedence over impunity. History is a good teacher.

Many have not forgotten that as Chief of General Staff, Admiral Mike Akhigbe, merged the FRSC with the police. The import was that Gen. Hananiya lost his powers to the Inspector General of Police.

It was also a dark period when a certain state Commander of the FRSC, having placed himself on the same podium as the Lagos State Commissioner of Police during the Hananiya years, found himself in police confinement during Akhigbe’s new deal. Accountants are gentlemen.

The Corp Marshal is one. He obeys agreements and does not disobey court orders. While we task him with the job of refining officers and men of the FRSC, it is our hope that the issue of faded vehicle number plates has been settled, for good. (New Telegraph Editorial)