FRSC Demands Saraki, Ex-Lawmakers Return Number Plates

The Federal Road Safety Corps has asked former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and about 219 lawmakers who failed to return to the Senate and House of Representatives to return their official vehicle number plates.

The PUNCH gathered on Thursday that the corps had requested the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mohammed Sani-Omolori, to retrieve the vehicle identification plates from about 69 senators and 151 members of the House of Representatives who failed to return to the 9th National Assembly.

The FRSC Public Education Officer, Corps Commander Bisi Kareem, confirmed this to our correspondent in Abuja.

 Speaking in response to inquiries by our correspondent, he said, “We have written to the clerk of the National Assembly to direct former lawmakers to return official number plates issued to them. We expect the clerk to reach out to them; we cannot get across to them ourselves, that was why we wrote to the National Assembly about it.”

Forty-two of the senators lost out in October last year at their parties’ primaries while others were defeated at the National Assembly elections.

Apart from Saraki (Peoples Democratic Party, Kwara Central), others expected to return their official vehicle number plates are Godswill Akpabio (All Progressives Congress, Akwa Ibom West); Nazif Gamawa (PDP, Bauchi); Rafiu Ibrahim (PDP, Kwara South); Tayo Alasoadura (APC, Ondo Central) and Yele Omogunwa (Ondo South), among others.

Asked about the deadline for the return of the plates and sanctions for failure, Kazeem said he would not speak on that.

Findings have, however, shown that many former lawmakers and ex-officials were still using the official number plates.

The immediate past senator who represented Oyo South Senatorial District in the Eight Senate, Adesoji Akanbi, said the senators who were not returning to the National Assembly, were expected to return the number plates.

He said, “The number plates have expiry date, hence there is no basis for holding on to it after June 2019 because those who issued it said it’s between 2015 and 2019.

“Although some may just remove it and throw it away but for record purposes, it is better to return it to the National Assembly management which distributed them to us.”