‘Chip Whip’: FRSC boss orders probe of controversial plate number

The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, has ordered the sector Commander of Kano State to investigate the origin of the purported number plate of the chief whip of the Kano State House of Assembly.

The FRSC, however, said on Sunday that it did not issue the purported controversial customised number plate of the chief whip of the Kano state house of assembly.

This is just as the chief whip, Ayuba Durum, disowned the number plate, blaming the development on people that allegedly wanted to tarnish the image of the state.

The number plate, which was spelt as “Chip Whip” had gone viral on social media with many people condemning whoever was responsible for the issuance of the number.

The corps commander, corps public education officer Bisi Kazeem, in a statement, said the investigation ordered by the FRSC boss was meant to bring the perpetrators of the illegal act to book

The statement said the number plate did not originate from any of the FRSC number plate production centres, adding that it was not issued by the organisation.

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He said, therefore, that the corps needs to clarify to the public that FRSC as the lead agency in road traffic management and safety administration in the country had nothing to do with the said number plate as being insinuated on some social media platforms.

He said, “For the avoidance of doubt, FRSC with its International Quality Management certification (ISO 9001: 2008) has rigorous quality procedures for producing and issuing any of its security documents which makes the possibility of such obvious grammatical errors on any of its licences an impossibility.

“In addition, a careful assessment of the said number plate will reveal that the characters of the dye are not the same with that of the FRSC production plants while the colour of the graphics (Nigeria Map) on the plate is brown instead of green that FRSC uses.

“Furthermore, all blanking and screen printing for such plates are done at the Gwagwalada production plant to ensure quality, uniformity and standards in line with his quality procedures of the FRSC in all its produced number plates in contrast to this one. So, we can confirm with certainty that this number plate was neither produced nor issued by the FRSC”.

The corps marshal was also said to have directed all field commands across the country to be vigilant and clampdown on producers and issuers of fake number plates.

Reacting to the controversies, Durum said the number plate was not that of his official car, saying the perpetrators aimed at soiling the good reputation of the people of Kano state and its leadership.

The chief whip said “linking that wrongly spelt vehicle number to his office was not only preposterous but also misleading as he is yet to be issued an official car.

“We wish to inform the general public that the Chief Whip of Kano State House of Assembly has not yet been issued an official vehicle for the office which he now occupies, hence the purported number plate doesn’t belong to him,” he said.