FRSC BOSS WARNS PERSONNEL OF THE CORPS TO REFRAIN FROM MAKING PARTISAN POLITICAL STATEMENTS TODAY.{PHOTO}

      The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr Boboye Oyeyemi has admonished personnel of the Corps to refrain from making partisan political statements or get involved in political activities which could undermine their non- partisan status. He urged them to remain neutral in political discourse and warned all not to allow politics to affect their loyalty to the constituted authority.
Oyeyemi gave the warning today while addressing staff at the September edition of the Corps Marshal’s parade held at the FRSC National Headquarters, Abuja. The Corps Marshal frowned at act of using social media platforms by staff to make political comments or show support to political figures contrary to the apolitical nature of the Corps. He stressed that as members of a paramilitary outfit, the loyalty of the Corps is to the President, Commander-In- Chief of the Armed Forces who has the constitutional responsibility for ensuring safety and security of the citizenry.He warned that appropriate disciplinary action will be taken against any staff who indulges in partisan political activities while still in uniform, stressing that engaging in political activism by staff runs contrary to the apolitical nature of the Corps. On commitment to duties, the Corps Marshal commended the staff for their resilience in tackling the traffic challenges of the country and expressed appreciation for the support they continue to show to the Management in the determination to sustain the ideals of the FRSC.He warned staff against using external influences to lobby for posting to their preferred commands, saying such practice distorts the establishment of the Corps. The Corps Marshal however assured that those that were affected in the past postings and are yet to be paid their transfer allowances would be paid as soon as the Federal Government releases the funds as promised.On operational activities, the Corps Marshal disclosed that a number of outposts have been established in designated areas across the country to make the FRSC services readily available to the people and restated his commitment to establishing more of such outposts in relevant corridors towards the end of year b special patrol. He however called on Commanding Officers to embrace the spirit of enhanced stakeholders’ collaboration in order to maximize the available human and material resources for addressing the menace of road traffic crashes in the country.Speaking on patrol conduct by patrol teams, the Corps Marshal noted with satisfaction that there has been reduction in cases of assault against patrol teams of late, but enjoined staff to remain civil, but firm in handling traffic offenders to avoid ugly cases of assault or violent attacks against them. “Patrol team members must maintain the four-point approach in dealing with recalcitrant traffic offenders by being tactical in line with the FRSC patrol ethics,” he stated.On staff comportment, Oyeyemi warned against lateness to duties, inappropriate dressing and stressed the need for staff to live within their means to avoid indebtedness. While speaking on staff who are fond of spreading rumours or disclosing official information to authorized persons, the Corps Marshal described such habits as disturbing and stressed that as a disciplined organization, Management will not allow perpetrators of such scandalous behaviours to undermine the integrity of the Corps.He cautioned members of staff never to encourage the illegal practice of petition writing; being in possession of illegal documents or forwarding them to other people, saying they could be identified and found liable as accomplices to the act and punished accordingly. While restating the commitment of the Management to issues of staff career development, Oyeyemi disclosed that the present set of qualified Marshals who have been called to report to the FRSC Academy Udi, for Conversion Course are those that were screened last year at the FRSC Training School Jos, while the process for this year’s screening exercise is on.In the same vein, he assured staff who have been scheduled for this year’s promotion exercise based on the available vacancies that the process will soon commence. Furthermore, the Corps Marshal stressed that in line with the commitment of the Management to providing opportunity of promotion for all ranks, efforts are being made to streamline the staffing structure of the Corps to make it functional.He enjoined staff to engage in a number of programmes initiated by the Corps towards addressing the welfare needs of the staff especially while outside the service. These he said include the Post Service Scheme (PSS), Staff Housing Scheme under One Staff, One House Project and regular engagement in sporting activities to live a healthy life. He emphasized that contributions made by staff to the post service scheme while in service has proved to be the most reliable source of alleviating the difficulties they face when on retirement pending commencement of payment of their pension allowances.On staff’s attitude to duties, the Corps Marshal called on every staff to remain dedicated and reciprocate the gestures of government which continues to show goodwill towards the success of the Corps’ activities. He particularly thanked President Buhari for the unprecedented support his administration has given to the FRSC and commended all staff and stakeholders who contributed to the success of the last FRSC 7th Annual Lecture Series.Corps Marshal’s Parade is a monthly exercise which the Corps Marshal uses to address staff on policy and security matters and interact with them on certain issues that are deemed to be of importance to the Management.