Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says plans are underway to compel traffic offenders to pay one hundred thousand naira as penalty for a traffic offence.
Oyeyemi said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of the Technical Working Group (TWG) on Nigeria Road Safety Strategy on Wednesday in Abuja.
“You cannot arrest somebody for using a phone while driving and he pays four thousand naira as penalty. And almost immediately he goes back to commit same offence.
“Fines are supposed to serve as deterrent, which is why I said that I am in support of what the National Assembly is doing presently amending the Act of the FRSC to make the fines go up.
“I was not the one that initiated it, it is the National Assembly that initiated it and I am in support and I will make sure that before the middle of next year this is passed into law.
“I believe that by the time traffic offenders’ start paying between fifty to one hundred thousand naira for a single traffic offence, they will not want to commit such offence again,” he said.
The FRSC boss reiterated that penalties for traffic offences were to serve as deterrent, adding that the present regime of fines and penalties do not serve as deterrent.
