Lagos starts issuance of unified licence in June
AGAIN the Senate has refused to endorse the move of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to fix new rates for the driver’s licence and number plates for vehicles.
Through its Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs headed by Senator Awesu Kuta, the Senate ordered the FRSC to revert to the old rates for the number plate for motorcycles and driver’s licence of N1,500 and N750 in that order.
The panel also recommended N8,400 for standard motor vehicle number plate to the end user instead of N15,000 and driver’s licence, N4,000 instead of the N6,000 fixed by FRSC.
It said: “The FRSC should call for replacement of the driver’s licence only at the point of renewal at expiration to avoid double payment.’’
The panel added: “The ultimatum of August 2010 to August 2012 for the renewal of vehicle licences and number plates is no more realistic in view of the hitherto exorbitant cost of producing this plate and this Senate’s intervention.’’ The panel recommended an extension period of six months (August 2012 to February 2013).
The panel equally noted that there are overlaps in the functions of the Police, FRSC and Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) and directed the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) VIO to stop forthwith the e-coding scheme and collection of N2,000 per vehicle.
And barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Lagos State government would begin the issuance of the new unified driver’s licence, precisely from June 18.
The new National Drivers’ Licence Scheme, the Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, said is a tripartite arrangement between the FRSC, Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA), and the VIO.
The FRSC last year announced the temporary suspension of the issuance of driver’s licence in Lagos State as part of measures to clear the backlog of applications.
But Opeifa at an event to mark the first year in office of the second term of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, said the state government had concluded arrangement to start the new unified licensing scheme (UDLS) as all logistics required for it were in place.
“The driver’s licence, which is printed by the FRSC, will be issued to the applicants by the MVAA at the various designated driver’s licence centres in the state. While the MVAA which is the first contact, is in charge of processing the information of the applicants, the VIO conducts proficiency tests on the applicants and only those who are cleared and certified fit to drive after the test are referred to the FRSC for photo capturing and biometrics.
“We wish to state that any other process aside from the one highlighted above is not genuine as the direct physical capture of biodata has made the process and obtaining of driver’s licence through proxies, become a thing of the past. In the last one-year, even though, the physical capture and issuance of drivers’ licence have been suspended by the FRSC, a total number of 45,644 applicants have registered with the ministry for the new drivers’ licence,” he said
Opeifa said the ministry in the last one year had commenced the documentation of all commercial commuter buses, owners and drivers for the purpose of ensuring safety and security and more than 500 outlets were created for vehicle licence registration and renewal at the branches of banks participating on the AUTOREG scheme.
Giving statistics of motorists data in the state, Opeifa disclosed that the mass transit operator, LAGBUS, since 2007 had moved over 47 million passengers, while the state had issued over one million vehicle licences through its AUTOREG scheme.
Reeling out the scorecard of the government during the period, Opeifa said the ministry had installed over 8,000 units of directional informative and warning signs along the major roads, of which 835 were installed.
He said, management of over 75,000 informal commuter bus schemes still remained challenging.
On the efforts to improve other forms of transportation, Opeifa said the establishment of the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA) would ensure affordable, high quality network of integrated ferry services with barrier free navigation access for the benefits of users.
SOURCE: The Guardian, 11 May 2012. Guardian
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