Fear Grips Lagos Motorists Over Vehicle Ownership Certificate
Kunle Awosiyan
Aftermath of Salah celebration in which many Lagos residents stayed indoor to unwind, the new vehicle licensing policy is creating fears to many Lagos motorists and car owners.
Those who spoke to Echonews said they were confused by the new policy and that it would make the government transport officials to extort them the more.
To those who spoke to Echonews, the new idea is to tacticall
y force motorists who had not renewed their vehicle lincences to do so and also ensure that a third person vehicle owner change his number plate when applying for change of ownership certificate.
“You may think this is just N1000 certificate as said by Lagos government, it is a strategy to force those of us who have been carrying old number plates inherited from the first owner to change to new one. This is going to be too much. To get a new number plate is about N60,000 now” a cab driver, Dada Opeyemi said.
During the Eid-el-Kabir holidays, the state Ministry of Transportation announced the commencement of an annual renewal of proof of ownership certificate for vehicles registered in the state.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Engr Abdulafiz Toriola said that the new rule is in compliance with the communique of the federal government Joint Tax Board, after an emergency meeting held on May 9, 2023.
Our correspondent who went to the streets to interview some car owners and commercial buses operators observed that most of them were worried.
They complained bitterly about the new procedure, saying it would subject them to fresh punishment in the hands of the officials of the state traffic management authority, LASTMA and those of the Vehicle Inspectorate Office.
“If LASTMA or police arrest you now, the first thing they will ask for is the ownership certificate even when government has not started the implementation,” Opeyemi said.
It was gathered that many motorists did not obtain change of ownership paper from the first car owner who sold the vehicle to them even after they had perfected other papers.
However an official of the Lagos Licensing office, Alausa Ikeja (names withheld) told Echonews that the only costly vehicle document now is the insurance, which is about N16,000 for small cars while the vehicle licence itself is about N3000.
However, she said that many motorists evaded the insurance and would not even bother to do change of ownership but would prefer to renew the older documents that carried the names and particulars of the first owner.
According to her, this culture is causing a lot of database challenges to trace traffic offenders because information only goes to the first owner who had since disposed the vehicle to a third party, whose datas were never captured by the licensing office.
However, a motorist, Mr. Tola Oguntoyinbo told our correspondent that Lagos State Government had made vehicle registration more difficult for car owners in the past.
He said, “Before now, we did change of ownership by simply swear to affidavit and get police report even when the vehicle papers still bear the particulars of the first owner (the seller) but today with change of ownership paper, Lagos will not agree unless one is ready to change the whole registration completely and get a new number plate.”
But to Toriola the Permanent Secretary, Lagos Ministry of Transportation, the new procedure is aimed at ensuring real-time tracking and maintaining the integrity of vehicle records on the National Vehicle and Identification Scheme (NVIS) database.
Toriola said the renewal process is part of the government’s commitment to keeping accurate and up-to-date records of vehicle ownership, which is crucial for effective traffic management, law enforcement, and public safety, reiterating that the renewal process will ensure national integration of data.
The Permanent Secretary added that the Proof of Ownership Certificate serves as valid proof that a vehicle is legally owned by the registered individual or entity and will contain vital information such as licence plate number, model and year of manufacture, in addition to the owner’s name and address. He said the document will be issued at the point of renewing vehicle particulars at a minimal fee of One Thousand Naira Only (₦1000).
According to join, the procedure will aid in the minimization of car theft and recovery of stolen vehicles, getting vehicular population nationwide, verification of vehicle documents regardless of issuing State, and enhance national security amongst other benefits.
He stressed that by ensuring accurate records and documentation, Lagos State aims to create a safer and more efficient transportation system, urging all to comply with relevant authorities for seamless implementation of the process.
Speaking, the Lagos State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) Babatunde Farinloye said the implementation is in line with the FRSC Establishment Act of 2007, to regulate and enforce all road safety management procedures through robust database, expressing the willingness of the Agency to ensure smooth execution of the procedure.
To the General Manager, Motor Vehicle Administration Agency (MVAA), Mrs. Lape Kilanko, the initiative aligns with the Agency’s vision of gathering reliable and accurate databases which will aid its operations.
A transportation expert and the Group Managing Director of Temply SYC Ltd, Prince Segun Obayendo stressed the significance of this procedure in addressing the issue of stolen vehicles that are currently untraceable.
He emphasised that with this initiative, interstate vehicles can be easily verified and captured in the Lagos State database. He also highlighted the role of data in the success of the Intelligent Transport System.
