SOMEWHERE IN THE LAW… Lagos State Traffic Management Authority Law 2004

Since LASTMA is a hot topic at the moment, it might be appropriate to start off this new segment (which I hope to continue diligently) with the Law which established the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority in 2004. The focus today in that Law is on Section 16 which provides:

Section 16 (1): A person shall, before he is appointed as a member of the Authority, be required to declare his interest, if any, in any transport or other business organization undertaking transportation of passengers, or goods or engaged in the repairs and maintenance of vehicles or manufacturing or sale of any equipment used by the Authority.

Section 16(2): A member of the Authority who acquires any financial interest in any organization undertaking transportation of passengers or goods or engaged in the repairs and maintenance of vehicles in the production or sale of any equipment used by the Authority shall within one month of such acquisition give notice thereof in writing to the Authority specifying the interest so acquired and the Authority may, after taking into consideration all the circumstances of the case, decide whether—

(a) to retain him as a member of the Authority; or
(b) to remove him from such membership; or
(c) attach any condition to his membership.

Section 16 was picked in view of the fact that a good number of the members of LASTMA either have interests or own quite a number of commercial vehicles now operating in the State. I in fact got to know once when I was at one of the LASTMA offices in the State that commercial buses arrested are not booked until LASTMA officials ascertain that such vehicles were not owned by one of them.

It is also not much of a secret that some LASTMA officials (or members as the Law refers to them) either own or have interests in private towing vehicles.

In view of the provision of Section 16, one wonders how many commercial bus-owning LASTMA officials declared their interests and how quite a number of them would be able to explain the acquisition of the buses and towing vehicles. Perhaps the really relevant question to ask is how many of them are aware of this provision of the Law.