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Driver licence: Yar’Adua meets Fashola, FRSC boss

By Ihuoma Chiedozie, Abuja

There are strong indications that President Umaru Yar’Adua is favourably disposed to plans by the Lagos State Government to produce and issue driving licences to Lagos motorists.

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This emerged after the President summoned top officials of the Lagos State Government and the Federal Road Safety Commission to a meeting in the State House, Abuja, in a bid to resolve the dispute.

The meeting, which held on Tuesday in the President’s office, was attended by Lagos State Governor Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Mr. Osita Chidoka.

A source at the meeting disclosed that Yar’Adua had, after listening to both parties, decided that the dispute should not be limited to agitations by the state government alone.

He, therefore, directed that all the state governments in the country should meet to review the issue and present a joint proposal for his approval.

The source explained that the President prefers a situation whereby the FRSC solely designs the template for the licence, while the state governments produce and issue it within their respective localities.

According to the source, “He (the President) is of the opinion that the FRSC should design the template while the respective states do the production and issuance of the licence.

“I think the President does not want to isolate the Lagos case. He wants all the attorneys-general of the states to meet to review the issue and come up with a joint proposal to the President for approval.”

The source added that the move was expected to ensure an easier disbursement of the licence as a remedy to the prevailing situation whereby prospective applicants wait several months before receiving the licence.

The dispute over the authority to produce and issue driving licence ensued after the Lagos State Government decided to introduce its own licence to Lagos motorists, arguing that it was constitutionally empowered to do so.

The state government noted that the production and issuance of the licence fell under the residual matters in the 1999 Constitution, which meant that state assemblies could legislate on it.

However, the plan by the state government elicited a swift resistance from the FRSC, which argued that it had the sole authority to produce and issue the licence.

To drive home its claim, the FRSC had vowed not to recognise licences issued by the state government, threatening that motorists with such licences would be arrested and prosecuted on federal roads.