Lawyers Hail NASS Over Number Plates, Drivers Licence

Some lawyers in Lagos on have canvassed the view that the
National Assembly’s review of the costs of vehicle number plates and the
driver‘s licence was a welcome development.

The lawyers spoke in Lagos, while reacting to a recent
resolution by the senate to review the cost of vehicle number plates and the
driver’s licence, argued that the senate’s intervention did not constitute any
meddlesomeness in the functions of the executive.

The lawyers said that the review was necessary as the new
rates announced by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) were generally
considered to be exorbitant.

The rates were N15,000 for the vehicle number plate, while
the driver’s licence was N6,000, but the senate has announced new rates of
N8,400 and N4,000 respectively for them.

Mr Ifeanyi Olisa, a Lagos-based lawyer, said that the review
of the costs of the number plate and the driver’s licence was necessitated by
the high prices demanded by the FRSC.

“I commend the Senate for its timely intervention in
ensuring a downward review of the costs,’’ he said.

Olisa said that as representatives of the people, they were
at liberty to debate any issue which was in the overall interest of the
Nigerian people, who are their electors and this is by no means an interference
in the functions of the executive.

Another Lagos lawyer, Mr Anthony Olufemi, also said that the
review was a welcome development.

He said that members of the National Assembly were elected
by the people as their representatives and so it was only natural that they
acted on their behalf, as federal lawmakers.

Olufemi said that the cost of the number plate, which was
originally was put at N15, 000, was too exorbitant for the people, hence the
review.

He said that the new number plate was only introduced for
commercial purposes since there was no major innovation in it.

“The only change on the number plate was taking what was on
the left and moving it to the right side,’’ he said.

He said that if the National Assembly affirmed that the cost
was overbearing on the people, nothing stopped them from slashing it.

Mr Idris Makolo, another Lagos lawyer, said that the
National Assembly was saddled with the responsibility of enacting laws for the
good governance of the country and by implication, its citizenry.

Makolo said that if the cost of the number plate could go as
low as what the senate has pegged it, then the initial rates announced by the
FRSC were meant to exploit the people.

He, therefore, commended the Senate for its timely
intervention in reviewing the cost of the number plates and the driver’s
licence.