In a recent ruling, the Court of Appeal in Asaba, Delta State, corroborated a previous Federal High Court judgement, stating that the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) is only authorized to operate on federal roads.
The appeal court’s panel dismissed appeal case No. CA/AS/276/2019: FRSC Vs Darlington Ehikim, which was lodged by FRSC to contest Justice E. Nwite’s judgement from the Federal High Court, Warri.
The Federal High Court had ruled in favour of the plaintiff, a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Warri branch, on January 25, 2019.
The court upheld the plaintiff’s argument, ruling that the FRSC does not have the authority to operate or carry out activities on state and local government roads.
The court also ruled to restrict the Commission’s activities to federal highways only and ordered the FRSC to pay a penalty of N10 million.
Mr Kunle Edun, the plaintiff’s lawyer, praised both courts for their accurate interpretation of the law.
He stated that, according to the Court of Appeal’s judgement, Federal Road Safety Commission personnel should not operate on roads within cities and towns, except for federal highways.
Their activities on non-federal roads, which he claimed were mainly for extorting road users, were ruled illegal.
Edun emphasized that this judgement underlines the federal structure of the country, with the FRSC as a federal agency that should confine its operations to federal roads.
