The Court of Appeal in Asaba, Delta State capital, on Monday, July 17, 2023, affirmed the judgment of a Federal High Court in Warri which held that the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) can only operate on federal roads.
A panel of the court in suit No. CA/AS/276/2019: FRSC Vs Darlington Ehikim dismissed the appeal filed by FRSC challenging the judgment of Justice E. Nwite of the Federal High Court, Warri.
The Federal High Court had on January 25, 2019, entered judgement in favour of the defendant, who is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and granted all the reliefs sought, which includes a declaration that the FRSC has no right to operate and/or carry any activity on State and Local governments roads.
It also issued restraining orders against the Commission from operating on roads other than federal highways and also awarded cost of N10m against the FRSC.
The defendant lawyer, Kunle Edun, commended both the trial and appellate court for standing by the proper interpretation of the law, saying by virtue of the Court of Appeal 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 road users are illegal.
He also said the judgment is a re-emphasization of the federal structure of the country since FRSC being a federal agency should only concern itself with federal roads.
