| By Rasheed Bisiriyu | |
| Wednesday, 3 Aug 2011 |
The Federal Road Safety Corps is to commence the issuance of new vehicle number plates this month in its renewed determination to harmonise all existing modes of licensing of vehicles nationwide.
The FRSC, which said Nigeria was currently losing over N15bn annually to vendors of fake vehicle licences, also planned to introduce a new driving licence, with new security features, to make it difficult for fraudsters to continue to forge the document.
A statement by the corps on Monday said that the new plates would be attached to vehicle owners with an identification tag bearing the number affixed to the windscreen for ease of security checks.
It quoted the FRSC Corps Marshal and Chief Executive, Mr. Osita Chidoka, as saying the new vehicle number plates formed part of corps’ strategies towards restoring order and sanity in the nation’s motor vehicle administration scheme.
On the features of the number plate, the Corps Marshal said that beside the improved security features, the number plates would come with bolder embossed character and the 50th Nigerian anniversary commemorative logo.
Chidoka also said that the FRSC had completed an upgrade of its Lagos production plant, especially in information and communications technology to ensure a hitch-free unveiling of the number plate.
Other measures for the smooth production of the new number plates, according to him, are the establishment of two new plants in Gwagwalada, Federal Capital Territory, and Awka in Anambra State; cleaning up and updating of central database on motor vehicles in Nigeria.
To pave the way for the new arrangement, Chidoka said that the corps had initiated a quality management system and total overhaul of the national vehicle identification scheme, which would require vehicle owners to exchange their present number plates for the new ones.
The statement was, however, silent on when the FRSC would commence the new driving licence.
The corps marshal had earlier said that the new regime would take effect from April this year.
He said that the organisation was disturbed by the growing number of syndicates engaged in the illegal production of driving licences and other vehicle documents.
The FRSC chief executive added that drivers below 25 years would be required to renew their provisional driving licences until they clocked 25. Similarly, those above 65 years would undergo strict verification every year at states’ vehicle inspection offices before being issued with the licence.
He, however, warned that any driver under 25 years would not be allowed to drive at night.
“On those under 25, they will be issued with graduate licences and they are renewable annually until they get to the required age. And the current one is for three years, just like the one we now use. The new regime we want to roll out is even more advanced than what they use in some European countries,” he noted.
Chidoka said that the new driving licence would cost N6,000; while vehicle owners would pay N15,000 for a new number plate, each of which could be processed online or manually.
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