By Sarah NEGEDU
The Federal Capital Territory Administration has dismissed claims that a recent court judgment involving the Directorate of Road Traffic Services, DRTS, had stripped it of powers to impound vehicles or enforce transport regulations in Abuja.
Mandate Secretary of the Transportation Secretariat, Chinedum Elechi, said the ruling was directed at the DRTS as a department, but did not affect the other enforcement authority of the FCTA.
Addressing journalists on Thursday, Elechi said many residents had wrongly interpreted the judgment to mean that transport operators could no longer be sanctioned for traffic and transport infractions.
He said the FCTA would continue enforcement through its inter-agency security structure known as Command and Control, which includes the DRTS, Department of Security Services, Police, Civil Defence and other agencies.
In his words, “People go and say, ‘Oh, there’s no DRTS. We can do anything we like.’ False. It’s not true. We have the Transportation Secretariat.”
Elechi explained that the DRTS, popularly known as Vehicle Inspection Office, VIO, is only one of six departments under the Transportation Secretariat, and not an autonomous agency established by a separate law like the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA.
According to him, the court merely distinguished between a statutory agency and a department within a secretariat, and did not invalidate the FCTA’s powers to regulate transportation activities.
“The legal capacity rests with the FCTA, not DRTS,” he said.
He warned transport operators and motorists against taking advantage of the judgment, insisting that enforcement would continue across the city.
“I’m issuing a warning: don’t do anything you think you like, because we will come after you,” Elechi said.
The Mandate Secretary said transport enforcement was carried out jointly by several FCTA departments and security agencies, adding that operations on the streets were never the responsibility of the DRTS alone.
“When we move, it’s not DRTS. You will see transportation, you will see us there, you will see AEPB, you will see Urban,” he said.
Elechi linked transport regulation to the FCTA’s effort to keep Abuja safe and orderly, arguing that transportation plays a major role in both urban cleanliness and security.
“Transportation plays a crucial role in both uncleanness and insecurity,” he said.
The clarification came as the Transportation Secretariat stepped up plans to fully operationalise the government-owned bus terminals in Mabushi, Kugbo and the Central Business District, saying operators would no longer be allowed to load passengers from roadsides and unauthorised motor parks.
Elechi said the terminals were built to provide a safer and more organised transport system, adding that the FCTA had spent months engaging transport operators to relocate before commencing enforcement.
“We have held several meetings with the operators, we have appealed, we have done that.
“But this one now, the Honorable Minister has given us 110% support to make sure the bus terminals are operational.”
The Mandate Secretary maintained that regulating commercial transport would significantly improve security in the nation’s capital by making operators easier to identify and monitor.
“The problem of ‘one chance’, the problem of insecurity, the problem of drug trafficking, the problem of arms trafficking will be half-solved if we have a proper transportation system where operators are profiled,” he said.
He disclosed that officials made disturbing discoveries during a recent enforcement exercise, saying some of the impounded commercial vehicles were found carrying “highly illegal products.”
“About two weeks ago, when we did our first trial enforcement, believe it or not, some of the vehicles we impounded had highly, highly illegal products in them.
“I will not tell you what we saw, but what we saw was frightening.”
Elechi said the administration had previously impounded more than 100 vehicles operating illegally but later released them after their owners signed undertakings to comply with transport regulations.
He, however, said the FCTA would no longer tolerate repeated violations, warning that offenders now risk prosecution through mobile courts established under existing transport laws.
“If we get hold of your vehicle, you’re going to face the… because we have multiple mobile courts already set up. If we are given a verdict to seize and crush your vehicle, we’ll do it.
“The law gives powers for seizure, the law gives powers for closing of a premises… All what we are going to do is to enforce the law.”
