A Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that the Nigeria Police Force and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) cannot impose fines or penalties on motorists who violate the Third Party Motor Vehicle Insurance Act without first obtaining a court order.
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Hauwa Joseph Yilwa made it clear that although both agencies are authorised to enforce the law, they do not have the power to directly sanction offenders outside judicial approval.
The ruling followed a suit filed by lawyer Deji Adeyanju. Before delivering the verdict, the court dismissed a preliminary objection raised by the police, which sought to challenge the court’s jurisdiction and halt the judgment.
Counsel to the police, Andrew Victor, had argued that the force was not properly served with court documents. However, Justice Yilwa rejected this claim, stating that court records clearly showed multiple instances of service on the police.
She noted that despite being aware of the case, the police failed to respond, describing their objection as an attempt to delay proceedings. The court consequently dismissed both the objection and a related application seeking to join the suit, before proceeding with the judgment.
In her final decision, the judge reaffirmed that enforcement agencies must follow due legal process and cannot unilaterally impose fines on motorists without judicial backing.