Last month, the FG announced an annual POC fee of ₦1000 to be paid by private and commercial motorists.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS), as of the last quarter of 2018, there were 11.8 million vehicles in Nigeria.
More data from the NBS also showed that between 2015 and 2019, Nigeria imported an average of 300,000 vehicles while about 100,000 more were added in 2020 to bring the total number of imported vehicles to 400,000 between 2015 and 2020.
Data on vehicle import in the first 10 months of 2021 revealed a total of 192,287 vehicles were imported through the Ports. The figure declined during the same review period in 2022 as only 114,159 cars came through the terminal.
With this analysis, there is an estimated 12 million cars in the country as of 2023. A registration fee of ₦1000 for all licensed cars in Nigeria would fetch the FG about ₦12 billion yearly. Before now, new vehicle owners got the document from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) at no cost.
During a press briefing to sensitise the public on the initiative, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos Ministry of Transportation, Abdulhafiz Toriola, said the initiative was in accordance with the National Road Traffic Regulation 2012 (as amended) No. 101, Vol. 99; Section 73- (1), which states that ‘there shall be POC for all registered vehicles’. Section 73 (1-6) also added that ‘the commission shall establish and maintain a central database for vehicles and drivers for the federation.’
Toriola also confirmed vehicle owners in Lagos state were expected to start paying the fee from this July as the state would begin enforcement.