HB 46: Army Colour (Prohibition of Use) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2015

Army Colour (Prohibition of Use) Act, 1977 (Principal Act)

Army Colour (Prohibition of Use) Act, 1977 (Amendment) Bill 2015 (“the Bill”)

Section 1 –

“As from the commencement of this Act, it shall be unlawful for any person to drive or be in charge of any motor vehicle (not being a motor vehicle belonging to the Nigerian Army) painted in the colour specified in the Schedule to this Act.”

Clause 2 of the Bill seeks to amend Section 1 of the Principal Act by inserting the phrase – “Aircraft and Water Vessel” after the words “motor vehicle” both inside and outside the bracket (underlined)

Section 2 - Penalties

(1) “Any person who contravenes the provisions of section 1 of this Act is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of N200 or imprisonment not exceeding six months or to both such fine and imprisonment”

Clause 3 of the Bill proposes to amend Section 2(1) of the Principal act by substituting the amount “N200” with the amount N500,000; and the phrase “not exceeding six months” with the phrase “not less than twelve months”

Section 4 of the Act is the interpretation section –

1) In this Act unless the context otherwise requires-

"motor vehicle" means a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads;

"the Nigerian Army" means the body of that name set up under the Armed Forces Act.

[Cap. A20.]

(2) In this Act, references to a vehicle include references to any trailer or other thing attached to the vehicle but do not include references to the contents of the vehicle.

Clause 4 proposes additions to the interpretation section of the Principal Act as follows:

“Aircraft” means any machine that is able to fly in the air by gaining support from the air, airplane, helicopters, etc.

“Water Vessel” means a mechanically or manually propelled such as ships, boats, hovercraft and submarines, etc. intended or adapted for use on water.