Vehicle Registration: Lagos Seizes 100 Buses

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•Some of the seized buses.

Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Lagos State Government has impounded another 100 commuter buses over the failure of their owners to register and get their database captured by the government.

The government had before now impounded about 700 buses whose owners failed to register with the government.

The ultimatum to get all commuter buses in the state registered expired on 1 January, 2014 with over 90 percent of bus owners, drivers and conductors shunning the exercise until the enforcement began.

The Lagos State Government began full enforcement on 1 February, 2014.

•Some of the seized buses.
•Commuter buses

Commissioner for Transportation, Mr. Kayode Opeifa who spoke with P.M.NEWS at the weekend said 800 danfo buses had so far been impounded, out of which 100 were seized between 1 and 14 February.

Opeifa said government was displeased with the slow pace at which the registration was going as many of the bus owners, drivers and conductors had refused to come forward for the accreditation exercise.

According to him,  “we are not satisfied with the level of registration so far. They could have done better. We have arrested over 800 vehicles. We arrested 100 buses between 1 February and now. What will do is to ensure that they register before their vehicles are released to them. They are not fined.

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“So far, only 12,000 have registered. We estimated between 35,000 and 50,000 danfo drivers in the state. Registration increased at a point and went down because all the unions have registered. We want to give those in the business the license to operate. We want to take the business and give to them free of charge.”

The commissioner said the meeting held with stakeholders recently showed that the banks were ready to give them loan once they have license, adding that “they are free from the encumbrance they tie themselves with. You can even lease your license out and you get paid for it for anybody using your license.

“We have gone away from brand new car to five years old cars, we have gone to Square Motors, CFAO, and we have found for them a vehicle under N2 million. So they can go and get their vehicles without paying at once. With the license, you can obtain loan 100 percent with zero percent down payment because the man will take your license until you have fully paid. What we are trying to create is a system that works and give them a retirement benefit,” he said.

The commissioner said government was impressed with the taxi drivers as over 7,000 of them had registered and got their licenses, saying that it was the danfo bus drivers that were recalcitrant.

According to him, the unions were fully carried along on the accreditation issue, saying that “we both verified and validated the software and database together. We went to the various branches of the unions together and organised workshop for all branch chairmen. The union was carried along. We were looking at 1 January deadline and when we started in November, we gave them 60 days. We went to the State Executive Council and got approval and fixed 1 January to test-run the data.

“What we are doing is not new. Oyo State has done it and three more states are doing it. The accreditation will tell us which route the buses should ply based on what they fill on their forms.

“The routes they will ply are not evenly distributed. Our intention is not to make money, but if they push us to the wall as they are doing, we will have no other choice than to use the full force of the law on them,” he said.

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