Many Nigerians who are eager to obtain the new driver’s licence authorised by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) are passing through pains in the hands of the officials of the agency assigned with the responsibility of issuing the driver’s licence.
The situation is so bad that some have spent years struggling to get the driver’s licence. Some have even lost their lives or incurred life threatening injuries in the process. These applicants, apart from being forced to part with money, are made to frequent designated license offices for endless weeks without achieving results. The whole process has become a money spinner for some dubious officials.
Applicants who visited designated points for the driver’s licence with the hope of obtaining the licence at the stipulated price of N6,350 at the end up paying above N17,000. The officials are not ready to give explanations for the increment.
As a face saving measure following continuous public outcry over the harsh treatment meted out to applicants for the driver’s license, the FRSC Corps Marshal, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, sometime last year revealed that the driver’s licence cost only N6,350.
Oyeyemi who disclosed this in Abuja during a one-day workshop organised by the commission for members of security agencies in the country on verification procedure of DL and number plates, implored people to can get their licences in FRSC licencing offices nationwide.
The FRSC boss apart from warning those giving other people money and passports to collect licences for them described the practice as illegal.
Hear him: “Members of the public who give money and passport size photograph to anybody in order to collect driver’s licence are doing disservice to themselves.
“Going through third party costs more money and produces fake licence to unsuspecting applicants, which is an offence. Cost of original driver’s licence is N6,350 and the applicant must go for biometrics at any licensing office across the country to obtain the licence.
“This is safer and costs less compared to the ones that pay third party for driver’s licence and at the end of the day, they will be apprehended for carrying fake licence,” Oyeyemi said.
According to him, it is a criminal offence for anyone to carry fake driver’s licence noting that those found with fakes drivers licence will be prosecuted in line with established laws of the country.
Months after the Oyeyemi’s clarification on the actual cost of obtaining the new driver’s licence, nothing has changed as applicants are still paying N17,000 and even more. Both Nigerians and foreigners have been lamenting on the skewed process in obtaining the driver’s licence
THISDAY investigations in some parts of Lagos designated for the driver’s licence such as Old Secretariat in Ikeja, Shomolu, Agege, Ojodu Berger, and others revealed that many applicants are subjected to rigorous psychological trauma and being exploited by officials of the FRSC.
Many applicants complained bitterly that the online process introduced for obtaining and renewing the new driver’s licence described it as being complicated as they are unable to access it. And the only option left to such people will be to visit any designated point to get the driver’s licence. This is where their nightmare starts.
Applicants for the new driver’s licence are asked to make themselves available at the designated points as early as six in the morning. Anyone who arrives after the stipulated time when the list had been completed was asked to come back the next day. Many people who left their homes too early in the morning have had the misfortune of running into robbers who dispossess them of their belongings.
Even when applicants are able to secure the necessary forms and fill the correct answers, pass the visual and practical tests, the last lap which is biometric capturing becomes a difficult task.
THISDAY investigations revealed that the biometric machines are always faulty. Many applicants who continue to show up for the biometric capturing for months without success are forced to abandon the process to try other points for the driver’s licence. They forgo all the money paid to obtain the driver’s licence.
THISDAY investigations also revealed that even when the biometric machines which are very few in number are functioning, the applicants are not treated equally in order of first come, first serve. Some officials of FRSC prefer to attend to those who can part with money who no matter the time they arrive are ushered into the biometric centre and their finger prints and faces captured immediately.
Many applicants for the driver’s licence who complained about the newly introduced online payment system, said the process should be reviewed because of noticeable inadequacies.
Those lucky to obtain the new driver’s licence have complained about its poor quality.
Mr. Ayo Balogun, a driver plying Oshodi/Agege axis, said people are being exploited as they are forced to pay N1,000 for biometric capturing at one of the designated points. “We are being exploited by officials of the FRSC handling the driver’s licence. We were told by the FRSC boss that the cost of obtaining the driver’s licence is N6, 350 but we end up paying above N17,000. Where is the justice? Why are they exploiting us in the name of obtaining new driver’s licence. This is corrupt and EFCC and ICPS should urgently do something about this ugly development. This is a national embarrassment. Our citizens and foreigners should not be exploited because they freely made themselves available to obtain driver’s licences.”
Another applicant for the driver’s licence, Mrs. Funke Olaiya, who is civil servant, said she tried filling the application form for new applicants but the pop message read “please visit the nearest FRSC office to complete a form.”
“With modern technology, this kind of thing should be easy for people to process online without visiting the designated centres. One can be sacked from his or her job for absenting from work frequently. I don’t want to lose my job now. So the driver’s licence can wait until I embark on my annual leave.”
Mr. Eze Okere, a commercial driver plying the Oshodi/Mile 2 axis, said the officials of the FRSC are deliberately frustrating applicants for the new driver’s licence. “Officials of the FRSC are frustrating applicants from getting the driver’s licence and they are doing this for pecuniary reasons. To them, it’s an opportunity to make more money at the expense of those coming to their offices to obtain driver’s licence. It’s unfortunate that this type of thing has been going on for years and nothing is being done to checkmate it. President Buhari should beam his searchlight on some of these federal government agencies and sanitize them.”
John Imo, who claimed he refused to part with money, said those giving money to officials of FRSC to secure their licences should be punished. “I refused to settle any official to get my driving licence even though it took me several months. At the end of the day, my patience with the rigorous process paid off. I have my new driver’s licence even as it’s of low quality compared to the old driver’s licence. Nigerians are too desperate when they want to get something and this is why some people are taking advantage of this to exploit them.”
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