Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police, is being sued by the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law for releasing the Central Motor Information System to all car owners in the nation.
In December 2023, the police introduced CMRIS as a tool to assist them in obtaining vital information on car owners for their database.
But the NBA-SPIDEL claims that it will cost N6,000 to get the certificate from the Nigeria Police Force.
But in a letter dated January 29, the NBA-SPIDEL Secretary Funmi Adeogun and Chairman John Aikpokpo-Martins declared the certificate’s issuance to be unlawful and gave the Inspector General (IG) seven days to stop issuing them.
The NBA-SPIDEL chair and secretary filed an application to prevent the IG and the Nigeria Police Force from providing the certificate after the IG refused to comply with their request.
Plaintiffs argued that no provision in the Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution, the Police Act, or any other law grants the Nigeria Police Force, operating under the direction and control of the Inspector General (IG), the right, power, or authority to uphold a motor registry or provide Nigerians with certificates of identification or proof of ownership known as the Central Motor Registry Information System Certificate (or by any other name).
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Furthermore, they maintained that the Nigeria Police Force does not have the authority to set and collect fees from Nigerian citizens for the issue of Central Motor Registry Information System Certificates since it is not a revenue-generating body of the Federal Government of Nigeria.
On the other hand, the plaintiffs requested that the defendants immediately cease issuing the Central Motor Registry Information System Certificate and demolish the Central Motor Registry Information System.
They also urged the court to order the defendants to provide the plaintiffs, the National Assembly of the Appropriations Committee, and the Accountant-General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria with a detailed accounting of all the funds collected for the issuance of the certificate from the date of inception to the date of judgment.
The plaintiffs asked the court to compel the defendants to return all money they had taken from the certificate holders.
“An order mandating that, within seven days of the verdict, the defendants reveal to the plaintiffs the names of the banks and the specific account numbers where the funds used to issue the Central Motor Registry Information System Certificates are deposited.
The plaintiffs further requested “an order appointing KPMG Nigeria or any other reputable audit firm to audit the said account(s) in which monies are paid into for the issuance of the said Central Motor Registry Information certificates.”
