The House of Representatives on Thursday, mandated its Committee on Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to investigate the high cost, delay and lack of adherence to due process in the issuance of drivers’ licence in Nigeria.
This followed a motion by Rep. John Oghuma (Edo-APC) on the “need to address the Excessive charges for Driver’s license by Federal Road safety Commission.
He said that the approved rate by the Joint Task Force for driver’s licence was N6,350 for one with two years validity license and N10,000 for a five year validity licence.
He said, however, on the contrary Nigerians were being charged N18,000 for a two year licence and N25,000 for a five-year license.
He further said that the process of acquiring drivers’ license was becoming too cumbersome, and takes between 90 to 180 days to process.
Oghuma further expressed concerns that due to the excessive charges and delay in the release of drivers’ licenses, prospective drivers resulted to self -help by driving without due documents.
The lawmaker emphasised that in some cases many of them forged the document, which may expose road users to activities of unqualified drivers and loss of revenue to government.
Oghuma called on the House to ensure that drivers’ license were processed at the official rates and within the shortest period, while ensuring that proper training and tests were carried out for first time applicants.
The motion was unanimously adopted by members when it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara.
The House, therefore, mandated its committee investigating the matter to report back within eight weeks for further legislative action.
