The Federal Road Safety Corps says sustained technological reforms in Nigeria’s driver’s licence system have improved transparency, reduced fraud and strengthened road safety administration nationwide.

The assistant corps marshal in charge of operations, Olusegun Ogungbemide, disclosed this Thursday in Abuja.

Mr Ogungbemide said the FRSC had adopted several technological upgrades to improve efficiency in the production, verification, and distribution of driver’s licences across the country.

He explained that one of the major improvements was the activation of a second driver licence print farm in Lagos with the capacity to produce about 1,800 cards per hour.

According to him, the corps has also overhauled the print farm in Kado, Abuja, to enhance its operational efficiency and support faster processing of driver licences.

He said another notable innovation was the introduction of a contactless biometric capture system, which allowed premium driver’s licences to be printed within 24 hours.

He added that the FRSC had also strengthened its card distribution system, enabling faster dispatch of printed licences to state motor vehicle administration offices for collection by applicants.

He explained that Nigeria’s national driver licence database also played a crucial role in verifying drivers and preventing fraud within the system.

According to him, the database is domiciled with the FRSC, and it is fraud-proof. Its integrity has made the Nigerian driver’s licence acceptable in some Western countries, as it includes provisions for authentication.

Mr Ogungbemide also said that public awareness had increased significantly, with many Nigerians now understanding that the legitimacy of a driver’s licence depended largely on the process through which it was obtained.

Mr Ogungbemide noted that the licensing process now commenced with the acquisition of digitalised driving school certificates generated through a highly automated system.

Mr Ogungbemide clarified that biometric capture primarily served authentication rather than determining an applicant’s competence. He also clarified that the responsibility of confirming the driving competence of applicants lay with the Vehicle Inspection Service.

He, however, said that, despite the improvements, certain challenges still affected the driver licence processing framework in the country.

He noted that many Nigerians still attempted to circumvent established procedures rather than follow the transparent, authentic process required to obtain valid licences.

”People celebrate the strict process in Western countries but want to cut corners in Nigeria, thereby putting up various strategies to compromise the system,” he said.

Mr Ogungbemide said in view of this, the FRSC was working closely with driving schools across the country to ensure that drivers received proper training before licences were issued.

He listed several measures adopted by the corps to regulate and strengthen the operations of driving schools, including regular workshops for driving school proprietors and instructors to update them on global standards and best practices.

He added that strict criteria were applied in the ratification of driving schools to ensure they meet international standards.

He also said that regular inspections were carried out to ensure compliance, while registered driving schools were publicly listed on the FRSC website.

He disclosed that the corps also maintained a strict disciplinary framework, including the immediate blacklisting of driving schools found to be involved in infractions.

He further disclosed that the FRSC was exploring the possibility of introducing fully digital or mobile driver’s licences in Nigeria.

(NAN)