Pat Stevens/
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld a Federal High Court judgment that prohibits the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), formally known as the Directorate of Road Traffic Services, from stopping, impounding or seizing vehicles, as well as imposing fines on motorists.
In a unanimous decision delivered on Thursday, a three-member panel of the appellate court dismissed the appeal filed by the agency, describing it as lacking merit.
The court resolved all three issues formulated for determination against the appellant and affirmed the earlier ruling of the lower court.
Justice Oyejoju Oyebiola Oyewumi, who delivered the lead judgment, awarded a cost of N1 million against the Directorate of Road Traffic Services in favour of the respondent, a rights activist and public interest lawyer, Abubakar Marshal.
The appeal arose from a suit decided by the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court on October 2, 2024, in which Justice Nkeonye Evelyn Maha held that the VIO had no legal authority to seize vehicles or impose fines on Nigerians for traffic violations.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1695/2023, was instituted by Marshal of Falana and Falana Chambers.
In her judgment, Justice Maha declared that officers of the VIO “are not empowered by any law or statute to stop, impound, confiscate the vehicles of motorists and or impose fine on motorists”.
She subsequently issued a perpetual injunction restraining the VIO, its agents and anyone acting on its behalf from further violating the fundamental rights of motorists, including freedom of movement, presumption of innocence and the right to own property without lawful justification.
The court clarified that the ruling does not affect the statutory powers of the Federal Road Safety Corps, which remains the legally recognised national body for road traffic enforcement.
The decision has been widely viewed as a significant curtailment of the enforcement powers long exercised by the VIO and as a major relief for motorists across the country.
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