The Senate has dismissed claims that the proposed amendment to the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Act seeks to outlaw street preaching, clarifying that the contentious provision only relates to preaching and hawking inside commercial vehicles and has been part of Nigeria’s road traffic law since 2007.
The clarification followed public criticism of the Federal Road Safety Commission (Establishment) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026, currently before the National Assembly, amid claims that it would criminalise religious preaching in public places.
In a statement issued by the Directorate of Media and Public Affairs, Office of the Leader of the Senate, the red chamber said the controversial provision was not new and had merely been renumbered in the amendment process.
“The Senate has duly noticed public concerns on the purported proscription of preaching and hawking in a commercial vehicle under the ongoing amendment to the Federal Road Safety Commission (Establishment) Act, No. 22, 2007,” the statement said.
It explained that Section 10(4) of the Federal Road Safety Commission (Establishment) Act, 2007 and Regulation 220 of the National Road Traffic Regulations (NRTR), 2012 already classify preaching and hawking in commercial vehicles as traffic offences.
