Asaba – Henceforth, owners of vehicles bearing old and defaced number plates in Delta State, will no longer be able to renew their vehicle particulars unless they migrate to the new number plate system as specified under the National Road Traffic Regulation of 2012.
Conveying the resolution of the Joint Tax Board, JTB, on the matter, the Director of Other Revenue at the Delta State Internal Revenue Service, Mr Commander Utoware revealed that the JTB, which is the umbrella body comprising the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS, and the Internal Revenue Service of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, had ordered a discontinuation of renewal of vehicle particulars on the old number plates.
Speaking on Monday, on behalf of the Executive Chairman of the Delta State Internal Revenue Service, Sir Monday Onyeme, Mr Utoware revealed that the measure became necessary “to check fraud, enhance revenue collection and security, and inject order and control in the nation’s vehicle administration system.”
He further advised applicants whose vehicles were registered under the old vehicle licensing format, to apply for registration or revalidation to the new number plate system at the point of renewal of their vehicle particulars.
It will be recalled that enforcement of compliance with the National Road Traffic Regulation of 2012 on the use of new vehicle number plates had been stalled by a gale of protests by Nigerians, some of whom had dragged the FRSC to court for judicial intervention.
Though a Federal High Court had ruled that it was unconstitutional for the FRSC to compel motorists to register their vehicles twice, the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos had on the 31st of October, 2014 ruled that the FRSC was empowered by law “to regulate the use of number plates, and to set deadline for the transition from the old to the new number plate format when the time was due.”
The new number plate starts with the respective local government code, the Nigerian flag and map on it, and ends with the respective state code.
