Court adjourns suit challenging imposition of annual levy for proof of vehicle ownership

The Federal High Court sitting at Abuja presided by Hon. Justice I. E. Ekwo commenced proceedings in suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1285/2023: Mr. John Aikpokpo-Martins & Anor. v. Federal Government of Nigeria & 2 Ors, filed on behalf of members of the NBA Section on Public Interest and Development Law yesterday the 29/01/2024.

At yesterday’s preliminary hearing, the Court confirmed that all the Defendants were served the originating processes and proof of services filed. However, the court further adjourned the matter to 14/3/2024 to enable the Defendants to file their defence, if any.

The Defendants in the case are the Federal Government of Nigeria, the Lagos State Government, and the Joint Tax Board. Recently, the Defendants issued a policy directive without any statutory support directing vehicle owners to pay a mandatory fee of N1, 000 for the issuance of an annual certificate of proof of ownership of vehicles. The NBA-SPIDEL filed the suit as a public interest litigation to save the public from exploitation by tax authorities.

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Mr. Godspower Eroga, Esq and Mr. Vincent Adodo represented NBA-SPIDEL while the 1st and 2nd Respondents were not represented in Court. The 3rd Defendant was, however, represented by Florence Pius-Anyiador Esq with O. Oshusanya, Principal State Counsel representing the office of the Attorney General of Lagos State.

The Court ordered hearing notice to be issued and served on the 1st and 2nd Respondents, and the case was adjourned accordingly to 4/3/2024 for further mention.