A Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday ruled out any plan by the Federal Road Safety to make itself the sole distributor of speed limiter which it had directed must be installed in all vehicles in Nigeria.

Justice Evoh Chukwu, in a judgment, held that the FRSC lacked the legal backing to either dictate the price of the device or determine where vehicle owners must procure the device.

He however held that under the National Road Transport Regulation 2012 enacted on the strength of the FRSC Act 2007, the commission had the power to direct that vehicle owners in the country should install speed limiter in their vehicle.

The judge ruled, “I am inclined to hold that in enforcing the provision of the law, the directive by the 1st defendant (FRSC) that speed limiter be installed in vehicles in Nigeria is within the purview of its powers.

“What I must state here is that the Act never entitled the 1st defendant to limit the scope from where ordinary Nigerians can buy the speed limiter nor did the Act allow them (FRSC and its agents) the monopoly to install the device at an astronomical price of N36,000 on innocent Nigerians, who are already groaning in abject poverty.”

The FRSC was said to have proposed to rake in N900bn from the imposition of the speed limiter on an estimated 25 million vehicle owners in the country.

The judgment delivered was in a suit by the Registered Trustees of the International Human Rights and Anti-corruption Society, represented by Dr. U. O. Udofia.

The defendants in the suit were the FRSC, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, National Automotive Council, National Union of Road Transport Workers, and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

The plaintiff, through its lawyer, E. A. Egbebu, had argued that the FRSC lacked the power, under any known law, to impose the speed limiter, dictate the price and where it could be bought.

It also contended that the commission’s prescription that the device would cost N35,000 and would be installed at N1,000 by its accredited agents was illegal.

The group further contended that the FRSC’s decision to impose the speed limiter on an average of 25 million car owners in the country, with the estimated revenue of N900bn was “actuated by corruption and abuse of human rights as the 1st defendant (FRSC) was not established to generate revenue for government.”

Justice Chukwu, had earlier in his judgment, struck out the notices of preliminary objection filed against the suit by the defendants, who had argued that the plaintiff no locus standi to institute the suit.

The judge also struck out the name of the AGF from the suit on the grounds that it was not a necessary party to the case.

CULLED FROM THE PUNCH NEWSPAPER.

FRSC APPROVED DISTRIBUTOR

SPEED LIMIT CONTROL DEVICE (T11)
The T11 is a speed limiter only
Features and Benefits
- IT CAN LIMIT VEHICLE SPEED AT GOVERNMENT PRESET SPEED ,
INTELLIGENTLY AND ACCURATELY USING AUTOMATIC SPEED CALIBRATION .
-IT CAN RECORD THE DATA INFORMATION OF OVER 72 WORKING HOURS( SPEED RECORD, LONGITUDE, LATITUDE,STRENGTH OF GPS SIGNAL, YEAR, MONTH, DAY, HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND, THE SPEED OF VEHICLE),
-DATA CAN BE EXPORTED VIA USB PORT FROM THE DEVICE,
-DATA RETRIEVAL OF SPEED RECORD FROM THE DEVICE,
WITH THE AID OF A THE SOFTWARE CAN VIEWED
-THE TRACKING OF SPEED, AND PLAYBACK CAN ALSO BE VIEWED ON THE GOOGLE MAP,
IT IS STRONG AND RELIABLE.
How It Works
The electronic control unit (ecu) is connected to the speed signal (electronic speedometer, ABS or mechanical sensor) and receives frequency signals while the vehicle is moving. at a preset frequency, for example 80km/h, the ECU transmits a signal to the Fuel Flow Valve. The valve closes(not completely) reducing the fuel to the injectors which then holds the vehicle at a set speed.