Vehicle administration in Nigeria is carried out both at the Federal and State levels.

VEHICLE ADMINISTRATION BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

Federal Road Safety Commission(FRSC)

The Federal Road Safety Commission is responsible for the following functions on behalf of the Federal Government:

Centralised License Plate Administration: The FRSC is at the moment responsible for the production and administration of license plates within the country. The commission maintains a database for all license plates in the country, which are supplied to the Board of Internal Revenue (BIR) of state governments for issuance to the new vehicle owners. The BIR is expected to make returns to FRSC on the number of vehicle licenses issued on a monthly basis.

Issuance of driver’s licenses: FRSC is solely in charge of issuing drivers licenses to citizens across the nation. They do this through designated offices in different parts of the country.

Federal Road Management: FRSC patrols federal roads to make sure that speed limit laws are being observed by drivers in order to reduce the road accidents.

Statistics and Records of road accidents: FRSC in the course of road traffic management on the high way also keeps record of accidents and death that occur on the road.

Revenue generation for the Federal Government: FRSC through the issuance of vehicle licenses, driver’s licenses and fines generate revenue for the government

Enforcement of traffic regulations: in order to make sure the highways are safe and not congested, the FRSC enforces traffic rules by monitoring motorists’ activities. Traffic violators are arrested and prosecuted.

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The Police – Traffic Section

The Nigerian Police Force enforces and maintains law and order in every part of the Federation while ensuring the protection of the rights and property of the citizenry. The Nigerian Police Force has a traffic section deployed in every state of the Federation. The traffic wardens and police in this section are charged with the following responsibilities:

Control Traffic: Traffic wardens are deployed across the country to ensure smooth flow of traffic without the authority to arrest traffic violators.

Inspect vehicle documents: the traffic police serve as inspectors of vehicle particulars and ensure the validity of such.

Arrest traffic offenders: the traffic police ensure that citizens who violate traffic laws are punished according to the laws governing the state.

Issuance of some vehicle particulars: The traffic section of the police force is responsible for the issuance of some vehicle particulars. These documents are the Enhanced Central Motor Registry (ECMR) and the CMR, which must be presented, whenever requested, at police checkpoints among other documents for inspection.

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Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA)

This agency was established by the Federal Government to maintain federal roads. The agency is not allowed to enforce laws or prosecute road users in any manner.

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Board of Inland Revenue(BIR)

The BIR fixes the fees payable by the various categories of vehicles based on their uses and their capacity. The list of fees payable is sent to every licensing and sub treasury offices.

The Board of Internal Revenue through the state licensing offices and sub treasury offices is responsible for the following functions:

Registration: Registration of new vehicles and ownership changes are carried out at the state’s licensing offices and sub treasury offices after a presentation and review of vehicle purchase documentations.

Renewal of licenses: vehicle licenses and other documents are renewed at any of the licensing offices or sub treasury offices across the state.

Documentation: the body is charged with the responsibility of keeping records and issuing the proof of car ownership and vehicle licenses on vehicles registered within the state. The BIR is also responsible for making returns on licensing plates issued to vehicle owners in the state to FRSC.

Revenue collection for the state: in the course of the registration and documentation of particulars on vehicles, relevant fees are collected on behalf of the state government.

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Vehicle Inspection Office(V. I. O)

The Vehicle Inspection Office is under the supervision of the Ministry of Transport and is charged with the following duties:

Inspection of vehicles roadworthiness: The VIO on a regular basis conducts inspection through designated agencies on both old and new vehicles to ensure that they are road worthy. The essence of this is to ensure that vehicles are safe for owners and other road users and prevent road accidents.

Issuance of M.O.T certificates : The VIO through its agencies issues MOT certificates to vehicles that have been found to be roadworthy. The agencies also renew expired M.O.T certificates for vehicles whose certificates have expired after re-inspecting the vehicles

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Lagos State Transport Monitoring Agency(LASTMA)

LASTMA is the body assigned by the state government for the following purposes:

Traffic Management: To control and ensure the smooth flow of traffic in the state.

Enforcement of Discipline: LASTMA is charged with the responsibility of enforcing discipline on Lagos roads by arresting and charging traffic law violations.

Revenue Generation: The agency generates revenue to the state government through fines received from traffic offences.

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Lagos Area Metropolitan Transport Agency (LAMATA)

LAMATA is the Lagos state agency responsible for the maintenance of state roads in order to reduce the cases of road accidents. They are not allowed to enforce laws or prosecute road users in any manner.

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