The Federal Road Safety Corps has stated that the use of Sharia law will not be used to enforce traffic laws.
This information was released in a statement on Saturday that was signed by Bisi Kazeem, the Corps Spokesperson.
Yusuf Abdullahi, the FRSC’s sector commander in Bauchi, had demanded on Thursday that Sharia law be used to prosecute traffic violators in order to reduce road accidents in the nation.
However, the Corps argued that it is a federal government agency with a mandate that is governed by the terms of an establishment Act and not a religious or sectarian organisation.
The Sector Commander has been immediately recalled by Corps Marshal Dauda Biu to the National Headquarters in Abuja for necessary administrative action for violating the FRSC rules and the Standard Operating Procedures.
Kazeem said, “It is key to inform the general public that the FRSC is a Government Agency with statutory responsibilities for road safety administration in Nigeria and sensitive to the country’s multi-religious as well as heterogeneous ethnic composition.
“The Corps was founded through Decree No. 45, as amended by Decree 35 of 1992 referred to in the statute books as the FRSC Act cap 141 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria. The Act was passed by the National Assembly as FRSC (establishment) Act 2007.
“By this very fact, it is important to posit that the Corps is neither a religious nor sectional organisation, but a Federal Government Agency established with a mandate that is guided by the provisions of an establishment Act; and not a Sharia, Mosaic, customary, canon or any other law whatsoever that contradicts the provisions of its establishment Act, or the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Our lead agency role is shielded in our strict compliance with established regulations duly passed by the National Assembly. As such, the public is humbly called to disregard the entire content of the opinion as published because it is outrightly baseless, unfounded and does not apply to our operations and service to the Nigerian people.”
