“How To Properly Register Your Car” Road Safety Corps Moves To Curb Menace Of Upsurge In Fake Vehicle Number Plates

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FOLLOWING the outrage by many Nigerians over fake number plates alleged to have been in circulation, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has enlightened the people on how to properly register vehicle and verify number plate.

Nigerians has raised the alarm over the proliferation of fake vehicle number plates in the country, as investigation revealed that at least four out of 10 number plates in the country are fake.

The trend appeared to have defeated the essence of introduction of the new number plate and driver’s licence in 2012 by the ex-Corps Marshal and Chief Executive of the FRSC, Mr Osita Chidoka.

Some of those who had fallen victims even alleged that FRSC and Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) officers were involved in the racketeering and issuance of fake number plates to unsuspecting Nigerians.

What is even more worrisome is that the racketeers had specialised in duplicating original number plate that is produced and assigned to a particular car and re-issued such to another applicant.

However, while the police have vowed to begin clampdown on motorists with fake plate numbers and prosecute them, FRSC said it was not within its purview to issue number plates to applicants.

Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, while reacting to the development, asked all Nigerians with fake number plates to return them to where they procured them or face the wrath of the law.

Efforts to get the response of the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) at its headquarters in Abuja failed as of the time of filing this report.

Chidoka, who was later appointed Minister of Aviation by former President Goodluck Jonathan, had told Nigerians that the new number plates would come with in-built security features that would drastically reduce the incidence of car theft, use of vehicles for criminal and terrorist activities, aside making it possible and easy to track such cars in the event of theft or crime.

He had also noted that the new number plates would check the then disturbing rate of fake number plate and driver’s licenses in circulation.

One of the victims of the scam, who narrated his ordeal in the hands of the police as posted in the social media, said: “On the 14th day of March, I drove into one of the police stations to obtain the new tinted glass permit In the process, it was discovered that the plate number of my car is being used by another car.

“My first question is ‘how is it possible?’ Because I obtained this number from FRSC with all documents intact. I never knew the car was going to stay for 12 days in the station.

“A file was quickly opened and the car became an exhibit. Thank God the car was registered by a very high ranking officer of the FRSC who was brought to the station.

“As the investigation was going on, it was discovered that some people were producing these fake and duplicate number plates and giving out to innocent and unsuspecting Nigerians, ripping them off their hard earned money.

“My question is: should we now go and buy this number plates at a shop in Alaba or at Idumota instead of the Federal Government approved agencies? In the course of my research, I stumbled upon the number plate verification system online.

“I started verifying cars of friends, church members and even cars that I see on the road. A shocking revelation was made that out of every 10 cars you see on the road with Lagos and Abuja number plates, at least four are fake.”

Also, a media chief in Lagos told the Nigerian Tribune on Wednesday that her father was a victim too, as police said the car had a number plate not allocated to it.

“I had to pull strings before daddy’s car was released at Erin Ile on Saturday. They said his number plate was not allocated to him,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Head, Media Relations and Strategy of FRSC, Mr Bisi Kazeem, on Wednesday, said the attention of FRSC had been drawn to the write-up in the social media on the issue of fake number plate registration and difficulties applicants go through in procuring vehicle number plates.

He said there was the need to make clarifications on some of the misconceptions and innuendoes contained in the said publication.

According to him, it was the responsibility of the FRSC to design and produce vehicle number plates by virtue of Section 5(g) and Section 10(3)(f) of the FRSC (Establishment) Act, 2007.

Kazeem, in a statement he issued, explained that after production, the number plates were handed over to the states through state Boards of Internal Revenue (SBIRs) who now sell to the public.

He disclosed that the payment for number plates by motorists was strictly within the purview of the states, since such payments were regarded as road taxes and, in like manner, registration of vehicles was also the responsibility of the state licensing authorities.

He noted that FRSC, however, collaborated with the state agencies involved to set national standards and to develop a reliable national database for all registered vehicles in Nigeria.

“To register a vehicle, an applicant is expected to go to the Motor Licensing Office of the State Board of Internal Revenue (SBIR) where he would be guided on the process and procedure of vehicle registration.

“Alternatively, the applicants can apply online by visiting www.nvisng.org and fill form MVA 01, submit the form, after which an item number will be automatically generated which will be taken to SBIR for necessary payment.

“The applicant will then be issued with necessary vehicle documents. These are Vehicle License, Certificate of Road Worthiness, Valid Insurance Certificate and Proof of Ownership Certificate,” he stated.

The FRSC spokesperson said the Corps and SBIRs were not unaware of the activities of unscrupulous elements bent on circumventing the due process of vehicle registration for fraudulent and criminal purposes, adding that this was why processes were being put in place by FRSC, in collaboration with SBIRs, to checkmate their evil machinations.

He noted that one of such processes was the development of the online Information Verification Portal (IVP) which affords applicants and vehicle owners the opportunity to verify online the genuineness of their vehicle registration and number plates.

He confirmed that many fake number plates and faulty registration had been discovered through this platform, adding that security agencies had been able to track stolen vehicles as well as some vehicles used in the commission of crimes.

He said this had underscored the importance of the verification portal as a veritable tool in fighting fake vehicle registration and boosting safety as well as national security.

On the allegation that a plate number belonging to a particular vehicle, when verified on NVIS Platform, might show details of another vehicle, Kazeem said this might occurred if one of the two vehicle owners had bought a fake number plate while the other owner bought an FRSC/Lagos State produced number plate.

He explained that the portal would, however, accept just one of these registrations and, as such, the other vehicle owner would always see details of a different vehicle when trying to verify the number plate on NVIS.

“To resolve this, the owner must visit MVA office to complain and have the state official sort out who the authentic number plate belong to and communicate same to FRSC.

“The second possible reason is that the original vehicle owner whose information is saved on NVIS had sold the vehicle to another individual alongside the number plate.

“Instead of the new owner doing a change of ownership, he/she had decided to register the vehicle as a fresh registration with his own detail which the NVIS Portal will not accept, since the same information already exists in its database.

“It is also possible that the new owner did a change of ownership at the MVA office but the record was pushed to NVIS Portal as fresh registration instead of change of ownership entry.

“To resolve this, owner should visit Motor Licensing Authority (MLA) and ask that the vehicle registration be pushed to FRSC as change of ownership entry as against being pushed as fresh registration,” he stated.

On the issue of a number plate which had been assigned to a particular vehicle and yet to complete its registration, FRSC said it was a case of incomplete registration by the owner of the vehicle or that the registration detail had not been uploaded unto the portal.

“Without a valid insurance certificate, the vehicle registration is incomplete,” he added.

“When a registration is fully completed with genuine insurance policy, resulting in the printing of proof of ownership, message will be ‘number plate has been produced by FRSC and assigned to TOYOTA HIGHLANDER on 6/11/2013’,” he stated.

The FRSC also warned against obtaining the driver’s licence by proxy and advised prospective applicants to obtain the document through due process.

Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, gave the warning at a one-day workshop organised for the Corps Heads of Driving License Centres.

“There will be no more collection of driver’s licence by proxy; prospective applicants will have to come by themselves and be captured to avoid obtaining fake license.

“Also, fresh applicants must obtain permit from an approved driving school and undergo all necessary processes before they will be issued the document,” Oyeyemi said

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