PFN Urges Tinubu to Reject FRSC Amendment Bill

The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to withhold assent to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Amendment Bill, which proposes penalties for preaching and hawking in commercial vehicles. The appeal was made during the PFN's third-quarter National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Lagos.

PFN national secretary, Bishop David Bakare, stated that while the fellowship supports road safety initiatives, the bill's provisions could infringe on citizens' constitutional rights and exacerbate religious tensions. The proposed legislation includes fines of N50,000 or six months imprisonment for offenders.

Bakare emphasized that the law disproportionately affects Christians, who often evangelize in buses, and questioned the necessity of the prohibition without evidence linking preaching to road accidents. He urged the president to return the bill for broader consultations, stressing that the government should focus on pressing issues like insecurity and economic hardship rather than targeting religious practices.

Bakare warned that criminalizing peaceful evangelism would be unacceptable to the Christian community.