The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Delta Command announced on Wednesday that over 4,651 permanent driver’s licenses are still unclaimed in the state, awaiting collection by their respective owners.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Asaba, Muftau Irekeola, the Delta State Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), revealed that as of December 2023, there were 3,953 uncollected driver’s licenses.
He further stated that since the beginning of 2024, an additional 23,513 licenses have been produced, bringing the total number of uncollected licenses to 4,651.
The sector commander expressed concern that many motorists fail to collect their permanent driver’s licenses after processing them, pointing out that only 18,962 licenses have been collected since the start of the year, despite the significant number available.
He urged motorists to take responsibility and collect their licenses to avoid unnecessary delays and congestion at the licensing offices.
“In spite of the efforts of the staff of the drivers’ licence centre reaching out to the owners through their next of kin, the owners still do not go to pick up their driver’s licence.
Some just get comfortable with the temporary drivers’ licence issued to them, while most people don’t just create time out of their busy schedule to pick up their driver’s licence,” Irekeola said.
He stated that having a valid license is mandatory for driving in the country and warned that driving without one endangers the lives of road users and constitutes a traffic violation.
“Whoever is driving on the road without a driver’s licence and an accident occurs and pre-adventures there is loss of life, such a person will be tried in court as a murderer instead of manslaughter.
“If they have a driver’s licence and it is expired they will not be treated as murder because he or she has undergone a driver’s test and has a driver’s licence even though it has expired.
“The Command wants drivers with temporary licences to collect their permanent driver’s licence at the motor licencing office where they had their biometric captured,” Irekeola stated.
The sector commander announced that the command would soon collaborate with the board of internal revenue on an “operation show your license” initiative to check for unlicensed drivers in Asaba
 Delta Command announced on Wednesday that over 4,651 permanent driver's licenses are still unclaimed in the state, awaiting collection by their respective owners.){kind=link}