The Federal Road Safety Commission, or FRSC, is only permitted to function on federal roads, according to the Federal High Court’s ruling, which was upheld on Monday by the Court of Appeal in Asaba, Delta State.
A panel of the court dismissed the appeal filed by FRSC challenging the decision of Justice E. Nwite of the Federal High Court, Warri, in the case CA/AS/276/2019: FRSC Vs. Darlington Ehikim.
On January 25, 2019, the Federal High Court rendered a decision in favor of the plaintiff, an NBA Warri member, and granted all reliefs requested, including a determination that the FRSC has no right to operate on or conduct any activity on State and Local Government highways.
The trial court also granted the FRSC costs of N10m and imposed restraining orders prohibiting the Commission from working on roadways other than federal highways.
Plaintiff’s attorney, Mr. Kunle Edun, applauded the trial and appellate courts for upholding the correct legal interpretation.
According to him, FRSC employees who are on roads inside of cities and towns, aside from federal highways, do not have a legal right to be there because their operations on these roads, which primarily include extorting road users, are illegal under the Court of Appeal’s ruling.
Edun added that because the FRSC is a federal organization and should only be concerned with federal roads, the verdict re-emphasizes the federal structure of the nation.