Lagos condemns FAAN’s impunity on licensing taxi

The attention of the Lagos State Government has been drawn to the act of impunity and disrespect for the state transportation law being perpetrated by the management of the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) by illegally registering taxi operators and intra-city transport operators despite several attempts made by the state government to dissuade them from this illegal act.

This was made known in statement signed by the Kayode Opeifa, the immediate past commissioner of transportation under the Babatunde Raji Fashola administration and made available to BusinessDay motoring.

According to the statement, he said, “For the avoidance of doubt and the education of the public, it is only state governments that have the legal and constitutional rights to regulate transportation matters in their domain, a fact that was reiterated and confirmed by several resolutions of the National Council on Transport.

In this regard, the ministry of aviation and FAAN authority are therefore called upon to retrace their step from this impunity, discontinue this act and consult the State Ministry of Transportation for proper guidance.

The state government wishes to inform all taxi and transport operators not to be deceived by any group or agency into believing that they have any right to regulate their operations within the state other than the state Ministry of Transportation and to warn any taxi or public transit operator that does not conform with the State regulation on taxi operation to be ready for appropriate sanctions.