VIO Approaches Supreme Court to Restore Enforcement Powers
The Department of Road Traffic Services, popularly known as the Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO), has lodged an appeal at the Supreme Court against a recent judgment that prohibits it from fining or impounding the vehicles of motorists.
This move comes days after the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld a lower court’s ruling barring the agency from such enforcement actions. In a unanimous decision delivered by a three-member panel led by Justice Oyejoju Oyewumi, the appellate court affirmed the October 2024 verdict of the Federal High Court, which declared that the VIO lacks the legal authority to stop, seize vehicles, or impose fines on drivers.
The case originated from a fundamental rights suit filed by public interest lawyer Abubakar Marshal, following the confiscation of his vehicle by VIO officials in Abuja in December 2023.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, the Acting Director of the DRTS, Deborah Osho, announced the agency’s decision to appeal to the Supreme Court.
“We will certainly appeal,” Osho stated during an interaction with journalists in Abuja. She defended the VIO’s enforcement approach, noting that despite alternative methods such as issuing tickets, traffic offenders currently owe the agency more than ₦409 million in unpaid fines.
“Traffic cannot be well coordinated without strict enforcement,” Osho argued. “We don’t even impound like that. What we do is, if you commit an offence, whether you take [the ticket] or go away, you are already captured, and your bill will be sent to you.”
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