Appeal Court dismisses FRSC appeal, restricts operations to federal roads

The Court of Appeal sitting in Asaba, Delta State has restricted the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to only federal roads.

The appellate court delivered the judgment in Appeal No. CA/AS/276/2019: FRSC and Darlington Ugo Ehikim.

The court dismissed the appeal filed by the FRSC challenging the judgment of the Federal High Court, Warri, Delta State delivered by Justice E. Nwite which banned the commission from state and local governments’ roads.

The Federal High Court had on January 12, 2019 entered judgement in favour of the plaintiff, who is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Warri and granted all the reliefs sought.

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The reliefs included a declaration that the FRSC has no right to operate and/or carry any activity on state and local governments’ roads.

The trial court also issued restraining orders against the commission from operating on roads other than federal highways and also awarded a cost of N10 million against the FRSC.

The plaintiff’s lawyer, Mr. Kunle Edun, commended both the trial and appellate courts for the proper interpretation of the law, adding that by the judgment, FRSC personnel who are on roads inside cities and towns except federal highways have no right to be there, as their operations on such roads which are mainly to extort motorists are illegal.

Edun stated that the Judgment re-emphasised the federal structure of the country because the FRSC being a federal agency should concern itself with federal roads.