Car owners have praised Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s decision to release impounded vehicles in the state free of charge. Muyideen Alao, a taxi driver said he was elated when he got the news that the Lagos State Government has decided to release impounded vehicles to their owners. Speaking in Yoruba language, Alao said it was a great move in the right direction.
Citing the cash crunch currently experienced in the country. He said, this move will alleviate the sufferings of many Lagos drivers who might not be able to secure the fines to collect their impounded vehicles. Alao urged the Lagos State Government to release all the vehicles without exception in the spirit of empathy. It could be recalled that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had three weeks ago introduced palliative measures to cushion the effect of the naira redesign policy which has led to extreme cash crunch in Nigeria. As part of move to scale up the palliative measure, the state government decided to release vehicles that were impounded for minor traffic offences to their owners and waived the fines. The release of the vehicles to their owners began on Saturday and it is still ongoing.
The State Government has begun the release of impounded vehicles to their owners free of charge due to cash crunch that has hit the nation following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) naira redesign policy. Lagos Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde, in an interview on Tuesday said the governor had extended the palliative measures by ensuring that vehicles impounded for minor traffic offences were returned to their owners with the fines waved. According to Oladeinde: “When you look at what the governor proposed, especially during the cash crunch period, we have reduced public transport fare by 50%. So when you go on our BRTs and all the Lagos State funded public transport, including Lag Ride, we have reduced the fare by 50% just to alleviate the suffering of our people. “Apart from that, moving away from transport, we have opened up food banks in certain areas.
So we’re beginning to give out palliative just to ensure that people get through this cash crunch period.’’ “We’re happy that APC has won at the national level. And we are beginning to see some of these policies being reversed. So we’re hoping that in a short time, life would return back to normal but in terms of public transport, I think we’ve reduced fare by 50%.” Oladeinde added that: “There are some people that committed offences during that period and we understand the fact that money wasn’t easy to come by. Looking at the governor’s magnanimity, the governor has deemed it fit to ensure that people who committed crimes within that period and wanted to pay or couldn’t pay as a result of the shortage of cash, they should come and pick up their cars and he has waved the fines. “Mind you, that does not include major crimes committed.
These are just minor traffic offences that have been committed in Lagos and this is showing empathy and trying to understand that look, we understand how difficult it has been and it is not a reason for us to stop you from making ends meet and so hence the governor’s magnanimity.” The commissioner stated that: “All those who have committed crime within that period should come and pick up their cars, that doesn’t mean people should continue to offend and so right now, what we are doing is to caution them not to commit the offence again. “After the cash crunch is over, we arrest, what we are doing right now educating people, like correcting them to just making sure that they don’t commit an offence again, but obviously if you commit a major crime, the law has to take his course.” In another chat with Mr. Deinde Lateef, another taxi driver in the Ogba axis, he said: ‘‘Law enforcement was important to keep drivers in check so that the lives of Lagosians can be protected from reckless drivers.’’ According to him, ‘’Acts of state forgiveness such as this, will encourage the people to believe that the Government law enforcement efforts has a human face.’’ Speaking further, he commended Governor Sanwo-Olu and members of his administration for coming up with this, because the times are hard.