Following two separate court judgements from Lagos and Abuja which ruled that the new number plate and driving licence scheme was illegal,
the Federal Road Safety Corps, has directed its commanding officers to commence a nationwide public awareness on the new initiative.
According to the Corps, the enlightenment campaign on the new motor vehicle administration in the country would emphasise the benefits of the new scheme and the need for buy-in from all Nigerians.
A statement by the Corps Commander, Corps Public Education, Jonas Agwu in Abuja on Thursday, said that the new directive is in line with decisions taken by the Joint Tax Board at its 129th meeting held on April 23 and 24, 2014 at the Headquarters of Edo State Internal Revenue Services in Benin.
“The States Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Road Safety Corps and the Vehicle Inspection Offices have been encouraged to put all necessary logistics in place to improve motor vehicle registration and issuance of driver’s licence in order to build a comprehensive database,” the statement added.
It also directed its commanding officers to explore all available platforms such as motor park rallies, advocacy visits and other forms of public engagement in keeping with its 2014 strategic goal of improved public communication and road use education.
The FRSC however maintained that the court never vacated its statutory powers to design and produce the new number plate, “but only questioned its powers to fix deadline for enforcement of the new scheme, as confirmed by the recent directive from the Joint Tax Board which has the statutory powers to fix prices and set deadlines for implementation of the new number plate and driver’s license.”
