Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says the National Identification Number(NIN) is now compulsory for processing and issuance of the driver’s license.
Oyeyemi, who made this known at a workshop organized for sector heads of the driver’s license on Friday in Abuja, said the step was to curb corruption.
He lamented that there had been a lot of problems surrounding the production of the driver’s license.
Oyeyemi said that there was a need to improve on the driver’s license production, adding that the FRSC management was committed to bringing to bear the full weight of the commission’s regulations in ensuring discipline.
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According to him, the driver’s license is not just a permit or an authorization to drive a vehicle on Nigerian roads, but also a highly valued identification and security document.
“It is useful for identity tracking, especially when it involves traveling and driving outside the country.
“The database remains reliable in the storage of information concerning the driver’s license holders in the country.
“As a matter of fact, it also offers support to the different agencies who desire to keep a tab on the identity of holders, including the diplomatic community.
“It is, therefore, clear in line with the direction of the government to guard against practices that are inimical to the sustenance.
“To curb corruption in the driver’s license production chain, NIN is now mandatory for anyone applying for the license.
“We are hopeful that as from next month if you want to renew your license or you want to get a new one, it is going to be compulsory that you get a NIN before you proceed,” he said.
Oyeyemi, however, noted that the same would apply to vehicle registration, saying that Nigeria, like many other countries, was experiencing challenges relating to identity theft.
He said this required that responsibility agencies of nations must firm-up their identity systems such that all avenues of breaches would be effectively closed.
“Without a NIN, you cannot continue any vehicle registration. This is also to ensure that the correct information is provided.
“For instance, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has already adhered to this by ensuring that NIN is compulsory when applying for an international passport or visa.
“So, this is very important to the FRSC as it would ease the processing of the driver’s license to avoid double identity as well.
“This is also part of efforts we are putting in place to fight corruption and this is also a major way to curb crime as well because we have a lot of people that have different identities.
“Imagine you go to the immigration service, you use a different name, you go to the bank, you have a different name, you visit FRSC, you have another name, even with MTN or other networks, you have another.
“Now, the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) will play their role by ensuring that everyone has the NIN so as to avoid double identity and this will be automatically imported to our site to ease the production of the driver’s license,” he said.
NAN reports that the year 2020 theme of the workshop is “Curbing Corruption in the Driver’s Licence Production Chain’’.