He or she is then expected to choose a driving school from a list of driving schools certified by the FRSC. There are several checks put in place by the system to forestall racketeering, but they are circumvented.īy law, an applicant for a driver’s licence is expected to start by obtaining Learner’s Permit from the MVAA or BIR or MLA as the case may be. Dan prides himself as the most reliable go-to man when it comes to getting things done quickly at the old secretariat.Įvangelist Dan’s Clients awaiting their licences right inside VIO and FRSC offices at Old secretariat MVAA is Lagos’ Motor Vehicle Administration Agency. He is also well known among FRSC, VIO and MVAA officials. Several agents also operate around the entrance of the police college and other parts of the old Lagos State Secretariat without hindrance, arranging fake driver’s licences and other documents for many Nigerians.Įvangelist Dan, a ‘driving licensing agent’ at the old state secretariat in Lagos, is quite popular among the people. “This is to show you this is for real,” they both said. She was soon joined by another woman who showed the reporter a few “original copies” of driver’s licences awaiting collection by their clients. She never spoke about driving school certificate and other legitimate requirements she only assured that she would ensure that her “contacts” deliver on time. “The original licence will be ready in two weeks, it is very fast,” she said, in apparent contrast to what the FRSC procedures stipulate. On the fees, she explained that the three-year application for drivers’ licence would cost N25, 000 while the five-year application would cost N35,000. “So you should be rest assured now that we are not fake, my colleagues are there too,” she said, pointing in the direction of some ladies standing at the other side of the entrance of the Police College. ![]() In March, our reporter disguised as an applicant and was directed from Ikeja bus-stop to some ‘agents’ in and around Ikeja GRA who could help with the driver’s licence application. This fraud, the investigation showed, happens with the collusion of officials of the FRSC, the VIO, owners of driving schools and third party racketeers. While a few Nigerians endure the process to obtain the licence by going through the laid down procedures, a PREMIUM TIMES investigation shows many drivers adopt the second option. In Nigeria’s vehicle driving world where no law seems too stringent to be ignored, there are three methods of obtaining new drivers’ licence: one, by enduring all the frustration, time-wasting antics of officials and finally obtaining the licence legitimately two, by colluding with officers to beat the system in a ‘semi-legitimate’ way in order to obtain a valid licence in a short time and, finally, by going for outright fake licences. “It doesn’t matter,” he added, “They will learn it later on the road, gradually. The FRSC officer’s words, which placed priority on money rather than the process, were in response to a disclosure by the reporter that nine of the so-called 10 applicants did not know how to drive. They would only be invited for biometric enrollment and, and after a while, be issued with valid drivers’ licences, with which they can drive on public roads. With the amount, far higher than the government-approved rate, the applicants would not have to go through a driving school neither would they be screened by FRSC and Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO) officials. ![]() ![]() The officer had just been assured of a ‘deal’ involving at least 10 driver’s licence applicants who would be paying an average of N21, 000 each. “In Nigeria, with the right (amount of) money, anybody can drive,” the officer said in hushed tone, grinning, his hands in the pockets of his trouser as he led this reporter into the open space that is the compound of the WEMA-Apata office of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ibadan, Oyo State.
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