By Demilade Aderibigbe
Former National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Dr Muiz Banire yesterday threw his weight behind those calling for immediate withdrawal of the proposed Proof of Ownership Certificate (POC) for which the Federal Government announced enforcement would begin in July.
Banire, who was also a former Commissioner for Transportation in Lagos State called for an urgent withdrawal of the policy because “the optics is bad for the government”.
Expressing his views contained in his Leadership Talks series, issued yesterday, Banire strongly condemned the policy, saying: “In no unmistakable terms, I unreservedly and strongly condemn the policy. In the first instance, this is the constitutional responsibility of the state government and by extension, the local governments as validated by the Exclusive and Concurrent Legislative Lists.
He said it is purely illogical and impracticable that the annualized POC would enhance the security of vehicles adding that the attempt to rationalize the policy failed to disclose how this would be achieved.
According to Banire, beyond the illegality involved, is the illogicality of the reasoning, asking, how does one renew the certificate of ownership of his vehicle when there is no transfer? Does a single registered transfer not constitute part of the database of vehicle ownership in Nigeria?
He opined that repeated renewal of vehicle licence is in itself a threat to the integrity of the data base it set out to generate with the potential to upset the security of vehicles, thereby endangering the lives of motorists rather than securing them.
“To my mind, the act of repeated renewal of vehicle licence is in itself a threat to the integrity of the database with the potential to upset the security of vehicles. It endangers us more than it secures us. I learnt from the grapevine that the States subscribed to this idea by way of delegation of responsibility. I am still wondering if constitutionally speaking a constitutional right can be delegated to my detriment, I doubt that very much.
Banire said the whole discourse regarding the Proof of Ownership further lay credence to the advocacy and agitation for true federalism.
Banire who expressed the happiness that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a major protagonist of true federalism said it is not yet uhuru as several issues are “still cropping up on a daily basis that continues to question our qualification to be regarded as federation.”
He said Nigerians are in order to have condemned the policy adding that the new proposed Proof of Ownership is “exploitative and meaningless.”