Despite claims of improved services by the Federal Road Safety Corps,(FRSC), the struggle to renew licenses has left a number of Nigerians with bitter tales. LADESOPE LADELOKUN reports
For an exercise deemed to be less than two hours in some parts of the world, a number of Nigerians have expressed their frustrations over how they are compelled to wait for over a year for their driver’s license renewal.
This is even amid tales of extortion and harassment by security agents and the effects of delay on businesses.
So, when one Seni@senisulyman wrote on X about how he renewed his driver’s license near Chicago in the United States in one hour ten minutes, it became an argument to justify why some Nigerians abroad continue to diss their fatherland, even as he created a room for Nigerians to vent their anger about the delay experienced in the course of renewing their licenses.
He wrote : “Just renewed my driver’s licence near Chicago. Arrived at 9:20am, took a number, got in line. Got my photo taken, address re-confirmed, eye check re-done, then waited in line to pay. It’s 10:30 and I’m on my way home. Hard to argue with Nigerians who don’t want to return home.”
Meanwhile, sharing his experience with Sunday Telegraph, Kunle Ajao, a physics graduate turned cab driver, has not found luck after several attempts to renew his driver’s license in the last eight months. According to him, this created a fertile ground for massive extortions by security and road safety agents, who capitalised on his situation to make him shell out thousands of Naira.
“I’ve not been able to renew my driver’s license in the last eight months. All they say is that the system is down.
“Do we have to repeat biometric data capturing every time we want to renew our driver’s license? It is frustrating. It is not my fault that my license is not ready but I can tell you that I still have to ‘settle’ policemen to have peace on the road. It is a sad situation.”
Banji Akande, a trader, told how he offered a bribe to a road safety official at the Ikotun Egbe office of the Federal Road Safety Corps( FRSC) in Lagos to help fast-track his driver’s license renewal but has got no results.
He said:”I was there several times but eventually got the assurance of an official that I would be called for data capture once the internet connection was good. Since August last year, it has been stories all the way, even after paying some money for assistance to get the thing done quickly.”
Netizens fume
Meanwhile, some netizens have taken to X to express their anger. StoykiyMuzhik@ouchay wrote: “I paid to renew my driver’s license on the 5th of January 2024 and up till today 3rd February 2025, the license has not been produced. I heard of someone who’d waited for 3 years and how January renewals are always problematic. Lol. Nigeria is not a functioning country.”
Olamilekan@tallman0 wrote: “It is interesting how I am yet to collect my driver’s license after almost a whole year I paid for the renewal
I was given a paper signed and stamped to use until further notice How can this be done? Kindly assist @FRSCNigeria @DrJoeAbah @BTOofficial”
Amenaghawon@danziny23 wrote: “I think at this rate, I need to carry placard and stand in front of @FRSCNigeria headquarters to demand for my drivers license. I applied for renewal since February 2024. Till date, it’s still not ready. 1yearr o. This is unheard of.”
Lucky Agbaye@AgbayeLucky on February 4, wrote : “BREAKING: Just picked my Driver’s Licence after 1 year + 12 days of payment for renewal. #MakeNigeriaWorkAgain @FRSCNigeria”
BabasolaKuti@RealSola Kuti wrote: “In the UK, I get my passport online, I get my drivers licence online, I shop online even for groceries…don’t leave my house. Nigerians are queing for another Identity card after queuing for passport, drivers licence, BVN, National ID, etc. This is not in 1920 ooo…”
‘How driver’s license delay makes case for centralised database’
A centralised database, advocates argue, could curb to a large extent the frustration and all the hassles accompanying data collection by the FRSC, banks, telcos and other data-collecting organisations.
While federal and state agencies maintain separate databases with a fragmented identity ecosystem, the clamour for harmonizing existing databases and identification systems has continued.
In a bid to end multiple identity registrations through the National Identity Management Commission(NIMC), the Federal Government announced its plan to harmonize data.
The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Ojo, at the opening ceremony of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, International Week said: “Identity is who we are, what we are, and what we live for. But today, what we have is a duplication of our registration. We have the BVN in the bank, the international passport, the NIN, SIM card registration by telcos, and so on, all of which request your data. The integrity of our travel documents must be restored through the harmonisation of our data.
“We have the directive of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, under the Renewed Hope Agenda, to harmonise the country’s database. When we harmonise our data, there will be an exchange amongst agencies such that when our people need data for passport and visa applications, or BVN, with their NIN, their data can be pulled out.”
Explaining why agencies of the government would prefer to continue to source their data instead of relying on harmonised data, a senior lecturer in the Department of Economics in the University of Lagos, Dr Babatope Ogunniyi, reasoned that the government was not sufficiently funding its agencies, making them to independently source for funds through levies and tax formations, which, according to him, encourages primary data collection.
“There is what we call policy somersault. One government would take a position with a particular policy and the next one would draw it back or totally forgo it. And it’s always like that. The government of the day is out to get money from different sources, and as such, they feel the diversity in data collection will really help each of these units. I will take you along the Immigration, Nigeria Population Commission, driver’s license and many more.
“Unfortunately, many of these agencies are focused on meeting a particular target. And, as such, they cannot say they are depending on secondary data on their own. They would want to source for their own data because they would be able to levy you to get their return. And that is the situation and if you have them merged, they will tell you they cannot trust the website of the other one.
“The government of the day has not done enough for all those things to be harmonised into one level database. Why? All these ministries, agencies and parastatals…the funding going into them is not even sufficient. They fight to make more money on their own. That’s why they come up with all manner of tax formation and levies on the citizens. And there is nothing as a matter of fact that we can do until the government is ready to draw a kind of agreement in all these parastatals,” he told Sunday Telegraph.
Speaking on why some politically exposed persons may not be favourably disposed to harmonised data, he said: “If you take my thumbprint, it should read everything about me- bank, insurance, investments, everything. Some of these government representatives would not want to disclose their identities because if it is possible for me to know that you are the owner of a particular account, where you put a different name, it becomes an issue. So, these are the issues why centralising the database is still a mirage.”
Our offices littered with driver’s licenses, people don’t come to pick – Lagos FRSC Sector Commander
Dismissing allegations of failed data capture and other causes of the delay experienced in renewing driver’s licenses, the Lagos State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Kehinde Hamzat, explained that the issues associated with the delay in picking up driver’s licenses have long been resolved, noting that offices now have licenses lying fallow but owners do not come for them.
“Sincerely, there was a problem early last year when there was a change of consultant in terms of activities and production of drivers’ license. But it has been a thing of the past because lots of people that give this kind of complaints, when I tell them to bring their driver’s license details, we discover that their driver’s licence is lying somewhere, and they have not gone to pick it up. For example, I have a friend, he complained and I requested for his details. The license, as I speak, is still with me. Over three weeks now, I have obtained the driver’s license. From the day he mentioned it, the following day, I picked the driver’s license up.
“Yes, there was a problem, but there is no more problem. Lots and lots of driver’s licenses are lying around at various licensing offices that people don’t pick up. Some were sent messages. I went to visit a particular Local Government Chairman. There was a complaint by a member of his cabinet. That same day, his license was picked. It is not a matter of production. There are institutional problems. I want to tell you that most licenses are available, lying there at licensing offices. We produce and dispatch to various licensing offices. Many licenses are lying fallow there,” he said .
Speaking on the challenge with biometric capture and what the FRSC is doing to improve its services, he added: “This issue of not being able to capture is a thing of the past. Once in a while, there are network issues. But network issues don’t happen the whole day. There is no issue currently with driver’s license. In fact, we are even far from where we are. What we are trying to do now, according to my Corps Marshal, is a situation where you can get your license from the comfort of your home. This idea of a physical driver’s license will soon be a thing of the past. You have a digital license you can get from your home and can be verified. That’s the target. And before the second quarter this year, it will be achieved. ”
‘I’m in limbo’
Despite the claims by the Lagos FRSC Sector Commander that the problems experienced during the driver’s license renewal process were in the past, David Uba, told how he was assured his driver’s license renewal would be done in two weeks, sometime around October last year but got disappointed till date. According to him, he was told to come for the license on January 16, only to be disappointed and be accused of going to the Agege office of the FRSC without getting a text message. Uba said he was given another date in May to pick up his license but he must not show up at their office if he doesn’t get a text message.
“My birthday is in October and so my driver’s license expires in October. Before the expiration, I went to the Agege office, along that stadium road. It’s actually opposite the Agege Stadium. So, I went there and registered and captured for licensing to renew. I paid duly, took a photograph and all. I was told that in two weeks, I would pick it up. That was in September or early October. However, it never happened. I insisted that day that I needed something to drive with because the police on the road could be brutal and all.
“So, they gave me a certificate (a laminated evidence) that my driver’s license is being processed. They gave me a January 16 date. First day of January, it occured to me that we are in the new year and it would still expire. I didn’t have enough time to go there. Eventually, I went there, two or three days to the expiration of that day. I said how do you want me to drive on the road and somebody would say your driver’s license has expired and it’s not good. He now asked why I was there. I said I was there because I was given a date that has 24 hours to expire. So, I believe that my certificate should be with you. They checked the computer, it was not there. The boss there now asked if I had been sent a text message. I said I wasn’t. He asked why I was there. I said I was there because I was due for my certificate going by the date I was given. He said they should check again. They checked. It was not there. I asked what he wanted me to do,” he told Sunday Telegraph.
He continued: “He said I should meet a woman. The woman said they would give me another renewal. I was expecting that they would give me another laminated renewal. Behold, they just gave me a paper, somebody signed on the paper and manually wrote that the new date for the renewal was now May 16 or something; something about five months after the day I got there in January. And, at the end of the day, she just got one stamp and stamped it. I told her anyone can do this. Anyone can sign and write. She said I should not worry that if the police see it, they will know. I asked, ‘ Does the police know your signature?’ She said I should not worry. In fairness to them, the one I was given( the laminated one), on two or three occasions, I showed it, I was not disturbed.
“But the one they gave me now, I’m not sure of its authenticity. It was not laminated. They put a stamp. Anyone can put a stamp. It was signed. Anyone can sign. And the person that signed was just a clerk. My fear as I speak is, there are policemen on the road. LASTMA might not ask you but policemen can ask you. I don’t know if that is right or wrong. If road safety asks me and I produce that document, my fear is that I’m not even sure if it will be legit as something I could tender. As I speak, they said I should not even come to their office until I see a text message. So, I’m in limbo. ”
No policeman will extort anyone without driver’s license – PPRO
Reacting to allegations of extortion by policemen, Police Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, Omolola Odutola, told Sunday Telegraph in a telephone interview that it was impossible for an officer to extort a citizen or a driver because they don’t have a driver’s license. No policeman will extort you for not having a driver’s license. What is the meaning of extortion? What does extortion mean? It is not possible for an officer to extort a citizen or a driver because he does not have a driver’s license. It is possible for you to forget your driver’s license. It is not true that there are bad eggs in the police. Anyone who is a bad egg belongs to his parents, he is representing his father. He is not representing the police. There is no extortion. We have said it several times, when a policeman stops you, there are numbers to call. ”
On what Nigerians can do should there be any complaint, she wrote in a WhatsApp message sent to our reporter: “Anyone who says they are extorted should report to the public complaint bureau. Police will continue to check drivers and their documents, the requirement is tell any driver with irregular or expired papers to go and renew . “No giving “ no collecting”
Tried for extortion
Like other Nigerians, who lament how they get extorted by the police for their inability to provide their driver’s licenses despite applying for them in good time, some young Nigerians got their dose of harassment last year, but got refunded what was stolen from them
In September 2024, some police officers in Lagos were exposed in a viral video, demanding bribes from National Youth Service Corps(NYSC) members over alleged failure to produce a physical copy of their driver’s license.
Following public outcry, the police officers were arrested for extorting ₦1 million from the three corps members in the Surulere area, and a trial was initiated to investigate the matter.
The officers were said to have threatened the corps members with firearms and forced them to a police station, where they were coerced into paying the money.
It was later gathered that the N1 million extorted from the three corps members by four officers of Lagos Police Command was recovered and returned to the owners.
You’ve breached law driving without license —Nzeakor
Commenting, lawyer and public affairs commentator, Fred Nzeakor, said it was important to have a driver’s license when driving to avoid breaching the law despite the challenges experienced in the process of renewal.
“The law of Nigeria provides that every motorist, anyone who is behind the wheels, every driver must have a license to drive any automobile, be it motorcycle, be it car, be it truck, any automobile. For anyone to drive that on the road, you must have a license or permit to do so. And anyone who does not have a license has breached the law. It is an offence on its own. But in Nigeria, the authorities that Division of the Ministry of Transport of every state and the Ministry of Finance, where the money is paid. The agencies that have roles to play are the VIOs and the FRSC. In some cases, when people experience delays in issuance of obtaining their driver’s license, even after they have been verified, their biometrics have been captured. They have even been tested by the VIO because it is the VIO that will test the ability of the applicant to drive. ..But the challenge is that even after meeting the necessary payments the renewal takes time before it comes on. ”
He further stated : “There is buck passing between the two agencies saddled with the responsibilities. Sometimes, they have problems like they don’t have the license paper. At the end of the day, the citizen will be left at his own peril when he is accosted by policemen on the road, when he is driving without license. Then, it is not advisable for anyone to drive without a license. No matter how delayed the application has been. Instead, go and mount pressure on the agency to issue you your license or you get a permit because the permit, which lasts for about three or six months, is acceptable to be used on the road.”
