The Nigerian Police as said that Section 2(3a) of the Motor Vehicles (Prohibition of Tinted Glass) Act, 2004 empowers the Inspector-General of Police or any person duly authorised by him to grant or approve the permit.
Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Benjamin Hundeyin made the clarification in a statement issued Wednesday following the decision of the Bar Association (NBA) to drag the Inspector-General to court over tinted-glass permit policy.
He said it was pertinent to set the records straight to avoid misinformation to the good citizens of Nigeria on the legality of the issuance of tinted permits by the Police.
Hundeyin noted: “Furthermore, Section 1(2) of the same Act provides that an applicant must show good cause either on health grounds or for security reasons before the use of tinted glass can be approved.
“The essence of this regulation is consistent with the core mandate of the Police to prevent crimes, as the permit is a critical tool for curbing violent crimes such as kidnapping, armed robbery, terrorism, and one chance operations.
“In the same vein, it is important to clarify that the charges attached to the acquisition of the permit are purely processing fees and for the maintenance of the digital infrastructure deployed for this service.
“This is well within the law as provided for under Section 26(e) and (f) of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020, which empowers the Police to render specialised services to the public at a fee.
“It is worthy to put on record that the Force has recorded commendable and significant successes with the Electronic Central Motor Registry (e-CMR), through which numerous stolen vehicles have been traced and recovered across the country, a feat made possible by the modernised police specialised services in line with global best practices.”
The police maintained that the alleged claims by individuals and groups that the tinted permit policy is not legal, transparent and constitutionally valid are not only untrue and misleading but also a calculated attempt to cast aspersions on the image, integrity, and lawful operations of the Force.