According to a new law passed by the Senate, motorists using tinted glass without a permit from the Nigerian Police will face a 6 month jail term, N50,000 fine or both.
This is as a result of the final passage by the Senate, on Thursday, the Bill for an Act to amend the Motor Vehicle (Prohibition of Tinted Glass) Act aimed at checking indiscriminate use of tinted glass vehicles without approval.
The bill was sponsored by Senator Ita Enang.
The decision of the Senate followed the adoption and approval of the report of its joint committee on Police Affairs and Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters on the bill.
The chairman of the joint committee, Senator Paulinus Nwagwu, said the bill “seeks essentially, to amend the extant law in order to check indiscriminate use of tinted glass vehicles which beat security checks and carry out nefarious activities.”
He said it was, therefore, necessary to let Nigerians know that the police was not trying to introduce a new law but was merely trying to enforce an already existing Regulations 66 (2) of the National Traffic Regulations of 1997 and the Motor Vehicles (Prohibition of Tinted Glass) Act.
“The bill also seeks to address the persisting injustice meted out to Nigerians through embarrassment and harassment, which constitutes a serious affront to the fundamental rights of Nigerians against discrimination as enshrined under Section 42 of the Constitution,” he added.
The bill, among other provisions, requested buyers of imported vehicles with tinted, shaded, coloured, darkened or treated glass to change it to transparent ones within 14 days from the date of arrival in Nigeria or date of purchase.
In the alternative, it stipulated that buyers of such vehicles should request for a permit for the use of such tinted glass vehicles from the Office of the Inspector General of Police, anywhere in the country, within 90 days of importing the vehicle.
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