FG okays five-year expiry date for driving licence

The Federal Government has approved the production of another driving licence that will have a five-year expiry period, the Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Mr. Boboye Oyeyemi, has said.

Oyeyemi, who spoke at a press briefing in Lagos on Saturday, said the decision to have the five-year driving licence was taken by the Joint Tax Board at its 134th meeting held recently in Kano, which was presided over by the Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Babatunde Fowler.

Before now, the driving licence had a three-year terminal date after which motorists were expected to renew the document.

Oyeyemi, however, said the three-year driving licence would not be jettisoned, adding that it would exist side by side with the new one.

He said, with the new five-year driving licence, motorists would have the option of going for that or the three-year licence.

Quoting from a communiqué issued by the JTB after the meeting, the corps marshal said, “The board has approved an optional validity period for driving licence of three and five years at different costs to provide more efficient an effective service delivery to its customers.”

According to him, while the three-year licence will cost N6,000, motorists are to pay N10,000 for the five-year document, stressing that the cost has not been increased.

The FRSC CEO stressed that any new applicant for any of the two driving licences would have to go to an approved driving school for training to qualify for a licence to drive.

 One other decision taken at the JTB meeting was the production period for vehicle number plate, which the FRSC would henceforth complete in five working days.

Oyeyemi also cleared the air on the recent court pronouncement on the speed limiter, noting that it only declared that the corps should not fix the gadget’s price or market it but it could enforce the use of device in commercial vehicles.

“I’ve never spoken about prices and marketing since the speed limiting device campaign started. We’re not involved in that. Ours is the enforcement of the device. We’re only concerned about what can bring down road crashes,” he said.

He expressed satisfaction with the success so far recorded with the speed limiting device and commended various transport groups and firms that had bought into the idea.

For instances, he said a number of transport companies had purchased vehicles affixed with the speed limiting device now being deployed in long distance routes.