Lagos State Government says it is reviewing its traffic law following the backlash that greeted the recent auction of impounded vehicles.
A total of 134 forfeited and abandoned vehicles at the taskforce compound in Alausa, Ikeja were auctioned last week.
Reacting to developments since the vehicles were auctioned, the commissioner for justice and attorney-general of the state, Moyosore Onigbanjo, insisted that the auction followed due process.
“All the cars that were auctioned, some were abandoned and then notices were even given in adverts in the Punch newspaper that if your car has been abandoned in the yard, you can still come and pick it up before the auction date,” he told Channels TV on its breakfast show Sunrise Daily on Tuesday.
“In respect of the forfeited cars, they were forfeited pursuant to orders of the court of law,” Onigbanjo said.
He also spoke on the viral clip where a man broke down in tears and was begging the bidders to stop bidding for his vehicle.
Onigbanjo said the man in the trending video pleaded guilty to charges against him in court.
He said the law was, however, being reviewed by the Lagos House of Assembly to inject “humaneness into the law” to avoid people losing their sources of livelihood when they break the law.
“This issue of driving against traffic has become such a nuisance, such a danger, and such a menace to society that something drastic has to be done and the legislators at that time imposed these penalties,” he said.
The commissioner urged residents to “make agitations to their representatives” on the section of the law they want to be amended.
