Nine months’ worth of fines levied on traffic violators totaled N2.1 billion, which was distributed to no fewer than twelve state governments.
The Punch reported that the data came from an examination of their budget performance reports for the third quarter, which were retrieved from Open Nigerian States, a website supported by budgIT that acts as a database for public sector budget information. In Q3, the states received N865m as well.
Additionally, according to the statistics, there were no offenders in 24 states, including Abia, Borno, Benue, Ekiti, Bauchi, Zamfara, Yobe, Taraba, Sokoto, Rivers, Ondo, Nasarawa, Kwara, Kebbi, Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Imo, Jigawa, Gombe, Edo, and Akwa-Ibom.
The investigation also revealed that Lagos State, the Centre for Excellence, had the greatest number of traffic offenders as the state received N1.9bn during the period under review.
Osun (N32.4m), Oyo (27.4m), Ogun (20.5m), Plateau (N14.6m), Delta (N9.1m), Niger (7-8.9m), Cross-Rivers (N3.6m), Enugu (N2.7m), Kogi (N1.8m), and Adamawa (N.987m) came next.
Ebonyi received the smallest fine of N7,000.
First-time offenders who are found driving without a valid driving licence in Lagos State face a punishment of N20,000. The offence is therefore punishable by a fine of N20,000 or by having an a vehicle impounded.
For a first-time offender, eating, drinking, and smoking while operating a motor vehicle carries a fine of N20,000; for repeat offenders, the fine is N30,000 plus the added punishment of having the vehicle impounded for three or six months jail or community service.
If someone under the age of eighteen is found to be driving, they would initially be fined N20,000. The infraction is therefore punishable by N30,000 as well as an extra fine of vehicle Impoundment.
In the event that all violators were first-time offenders, this implies that 96,461 people were punished.
According to research released earlier this week by the Danne Institute for Research, Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial centre, loses an astounding N4 trillion a year due to severe traffic congestion.
The main offenders, according to the report, were behavioural variables such as bad road conditions, breaking traffic laws, agberos at bus stops, and passenger-picking buses.
It highlighted that Lagos’ 21 million inhabitants do not contribute equally to productivity because of the detrimental impact of traffic congestion on day-to-day living.
