The Federal Road Safety Corps has reaffirmed its powers to impose fines on erring motorists through the law courts.
Lawyer to the commission, Dr Alex Izinyon said that a judgement upholding the subsidiary powers of the Road Safety Corps to impose fines on offences of street liability was delivered by a Court of Appeal on October 30, making any other judgement from a lower court null and void.
The media was abuzz for a few days with news of a Federal High Court judgement in Lagos that the Federal Road Safety Corps cannot impose fines on erring motorists without charging them to court.
According to that judgement by Justice James Tsoho, the FRSC is not a court of law and cannot impose fines since it has no powers to conduct trial. It held that the act of sentencing is a judicial action and imposition of fine connotes conviction for an alleged offence.
But in a swift reaction to that position, lead counsel to the Road Safety Corps, Senoir Advocate, Alex Izinyon said that the judgement delivered in September has been overturned by the Appeal Court judgement which upholds the powers and mandate of the corps as provided for in the constitution.
Dr Izinyon said that all attempts made to go back to the law which has already superseded, and in contempt of the hierarchy of courts, is pure mischief.
The senior advocate said that traffic offences are offences of street liability and tackling them was within the mandate of the Road Safety Corps.
Corps Education Officer, in an appeal to motorists, said that the road traffic laws are globally accepted laws which are enforced by the corps for the safety of human lives and not for personal gains.
He said that the Road Safety Commission would not relent in its efforts to ensure sanity on the roads, adding that misconception about the mandate of the corps has been cleared at the courts.
It lies with any disgruntled motorist to appeal the last judgement at the apex court.
