By Theodore Opara

WITH the efficiency introduced into the management of the National Vehicle Identification Scheme (NVIS) through the integrity of the number plates, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has recovered 75 stolen vehicles this year at its registration centres across the country.

This was disclosed by the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi, while declaring open the meeting with the chairmen of State Boards of Internal Revenue and their Motor Vehicle Registration Consultants at the FRSC National Headquarters Abuja.

Oyeyemi said the launch of the National Uniform Licensing Scheme in 1990 by Nigeria was in line with the global efforts at proper identification of drivers and vehicles through integrated vehicle identification system that involves personalization of the number plates for easy retrieval of information whenever the need arises.

He noted that successive reforms carried out by the FRSC on the scheme has to resolve some of the challenges including double registration in some states.

He pointed out that the meeting was to enable the participants to interact and exchange of ideas in the collective desire to proffer solutions to some identified challenges hindering effective implementation of the policy on the new number plates.

The corps marshal harped on the need for robust data at the number plate centres through timely upload of information on the licensed vehicles, stressing that with the growing use of vehicles for criminal and violent activities, the need for sustained improvement on the licensing system to make the identification of the perpetrators easier cannot be overemphasized.

He called on all stakeholders to join hands with the FRSC to ensure greater efficiency in the motor licensing system of the country.

Oyeyemi frowned at the practice by some officials of the licensing offices who fail to do timely upload of the number plates issued to vehicles, saying such delay could negatively affect the ability of security agencies to trace a suspected vehicle to its real owner.

He said under the new licensing system, number plates registered in the name of a particular vehicle owner remains personal to the person and would be removed whenever the vehicle is sold to a new buyer who would be made to follow the procedure to register the vehicle.