WEEKS after the nationwide flag-off of mandatory medical fitness certification exercise for commercial drivers in the country, consultant to the scheme, Alternative Consult Limited (ACL), has petitioned the Federal Government alleging that the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has suspended the exercise.
However, the FRSC has denied the claim, describing the allegation as "malicious."
ACL in its petition to the President, Senate Committee on Health, Ministers of Transport and Health, accused the FRSC of introducing complexities to truncate the Federal Government approved Medical Certification of Commercial Drivers (MCCD) scheme.
Managing Director (MD) of ACL, Charles George, alleged that the FRSC had given a counter-instruction to all licensing centres not to proceed with the issuance of the certificates despite it flag-off last December.
He said this led to willing commercial drivers being turned back at designated hospitals across the country.
George, however, alleged in the petition: "On December 10, 2012, before the flag-off of the MCCD scheme by FRSC, the Corps Marshall Osita Chidoka invited him to his office for a meeting after which he asked him to host ACL website designed for this scheme (a restricted website for registered medical examiners taking part in the scheme) with a particular private company,(name withheld).
"The Corps Marshall made it clear that not until this is done the scheme will not be flagged-off, but to ACL chagrin, he flagged off the MCCD scheme on December 17, 2012 and gave a counter instruction to all FRSC license centre in the country not to proceed with the issuance of the commercial drivers' licence until ACL complied with his directive.
"To ensure that his directive was carried out, he instructed that the commercial drivers' licence should not be activated in FRSC website in all FRSC licence centres," he stated.
George told reporters in Lagos on Tuesday that the medical results of individual drivers were entrusted to ACL and ACL did not have the right to release these medical results to the public or any firm without authorisation from the individual drivers through the medical examiners.
"These are the medical results the Corps Marshall is insisting to have through a particular company before the scheme can commence even though it has been flagged off."
George said while ACL and other stakeholders were wary of the medical and legal implications of posting medical results of individuals in public domain through the FRSC boss' preferred firm, the Corp's chief had not given any reason for the order, nor issued official letter to that effect.
ACL urged the Presidency and relevant authorities to intervene on the matter.
But Deputy Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, told The Guardian that the FRSC in line with its pact with ACL, had put "a credible platform on ground through the government hospitals to take care of medical certification of professional drivers."
"FRSC is not aware of any government hospital turning drivers back and we cannot buy the allegation as no report of that has ever come to us in any part of the country. The allegation is thus suspected to be malicious," Kazeem said.
President Goodluck Jonathan on September 2, 2011 launched the new Commercial Drivers Licence along with the MCCD as part of measures to transform the transport sector.
In a similar vein, the FRSC also flagged-off the programme on December 17, 2012 in Utakpo Motor park, Abuja.
The MCCD scheme, also approved by the FRSC board, was a medical process to determine the fitness of commercial drivers before the drivers are issued the new commercial drivers' licence.
Of interest in the medical screening are hearing, eyesight, hypertension, epilepsy and diabetes. About 600 medical examiners nationwide are responsible for the screening process, while the medical results are domiciled with them and ACL website as confidential.
The Guardian