Nigeria's Senate passes tougher FRSC penalties, targets bus preaching and hawking with N50, 000 fine

A familiar bus ritual now carries a price tag

Nigeria's Senate has passed the Federal Road Safety Corps (Amendment) Bill, 2026, overhauling the penalty regime for traffic offences and, in one of its more talked-about provisions, making it an offence to preach, hawk or trade inside commercial buses and minibuses. Anyone convicted under the new clause would face a N50, 000 fines, roughly 33 US dollars. The bill, passed during plenary on Thursday, July 16, has been transmitted to President Bola Tinubu for assent and is not yet law.

What changes under the amendment
The revised legislation carries a comprehensive schedule of 52 traffic offences and their corresponding penalties, one of the most extensive reviews of sanctions under the FRSC Act in recent years. Alongside the bus-hawking provision, drunk driving penalties rise sharply, from the current N5,000 fine to N100,000, roughly 66 dollars, with offenders also facing up to two years' imprisonment or both. Speeding, running red lights and ignoring road signs or pavement markings, previously punishable with a N5, 000 fine, now attract the same N100, 000 penalties. Reckless driving carries an equivalent N100, 000 fines, up to two years' imprisonment, or both, depending on severity.

Motorists who refuse to cooperate with FRSC officials conducting roadside breath tests based on reasonable suspicion of impairment face a N50,000 fine, six months' imprisonment, or both.

The reasoning behind the bus clause
Lawmakers say the hawking and preaching provision is meant to reduce distractions inside commercial vehicles and improve safety for both drivers and passengers, a nod to the near-universal Nigerian commuting experience of boarding a danfo or similar minibus only to be met with an impromptu sermon, a vendor selling snacks, or a trader working the aisle with wares. The Senate has framed the wider bill as an effort to strengthen the FRSC's enforcement powers, improve compliance with traffic regulations and reduce road crashes nationwide, with penalties for some offences increased by as much as 300 percent.

What happens next
Having cleared the National Assembly, the bill now depends on presidential assent to take effect. If signed, the new penalty regime would reach millions of motorists, commercial transport operators and commuters, particularly in the major cities where preaching, hawking and trading inside buses remain widespread. Whether the higher fines translate into safer roads, or simply into higher costs of doing business for the vendors and preachers who have long treated Nigeria's commercial buses as a captive audience, will depend on how consistently the FRSC is able to enforce a schedule of 52 offences across a road network as vast as Nigeria's.

References
Tori.ng, "Senate Approves N50,000 Fine for Bus Preaching, Hawking and Trading," https://www.tori.ng/news/323647/senate-approves-n50000-fine-for-bus-preaching-hawk.html

Pulse Nigeria, "No more bus preaching? Senate approves ₦50k fine for preaching, hawking in buses as traffic fines jump to ₦100k," https://www.pulse.ng/story/no-more-bus-preaching-senate-approves-naira50k-fine-for-preaching-hawking-in-buses-as-traffic-fines-jump-to-naira100k-2026071615520044080

Ripples Nigeria, "Senate passes FRSC amendment bill, proposes tougher penalties for traffic offences," https://www.ripplesnigeria.com/senate-passes-frsc-amendment-bill-proposes-tougher-penalties-for-traffic-offences/

Blueprint Newspapers, "Senate proposes punishment for preaching, hawking in commercial buses," https://blueprint.ng/senate-proposes-punishment-for-preaching-hawking-in-commercial-buses/

Daily Post Nigeria, "Senate passes bill proposing N50,000 fine for hawking, preaching in commercial vehicles," https://dailypost.ng/2026/07/16/senate-passes-bill-proposing-n50000-fine-for-hawking-preaching-in-commercial-vehicles/

Platform Times, "Senate Slams ₦50,000 Fine On Bus Preaching, Hawking," https://platformtimes.com.ng/senate-slams-%E2%82%A650000-fine-on-bus-preaching-hawking/

Megastar Magazine, "Senate Passes Bill Imposing ₦50,000 Fine For Refusal To Obey FRSC, Hawking, Preaching In Buses," https://www.megastarmagazine.com/news/senate-passes-bill-imposing-%E2%82%A650000-fine-for-refusal-to-obey-frsc-hawking-preaching-in-buses/