Acting Secretary, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Transportation Secretariat, Mrs Alice Odey-Achu, on Monday, disclosed that the Secretariat had generated over N3.4 billion from vehicle licensing, Change of Ownership, sundry fees from various defaulters in 2019, which represents 22.46 per cent increment in its profile compared to 2018.
She made this announcement during a press briefing in Abuja.
According to her, “The revenue generated between 1st January 2019 to 31st December 2019 is put at N3,417,240,921.67 only.”
Mrs Odey-Achu said out of 103,919 vehicles presented for inspection, only 48,274 vehicles passed the roadworthiness test, representing 46.45 per cent of the total value, saying the Secretariat was working towards raising its revenue generation profile in 2020.
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“The number of vehicles that failed the test is higher due to the following reasons; most imported fairly used vehicles ‘ tokunbo ‘ have one or more defects that are detected during the computerised inspections which ordinarily cannot be detected during a physical inspection.
“Poor vehicle maintenance culture of most drivers and bad roads network in the suburbs also contributed to some vehicle components becoming defective.” She stressed.
She said the administration had employed over 200 new staff to beef up the operation and enforce the observance of the FCT Road Traffic Rules so as to boost the capacity of the Directorate of Road Traffic Services in discharging its core mandate of ensuring effective road traffic movement, minimise road crashes, stimulate clean environment and generate revenue for the FCT within the year.
“Just recently, the FCT minister flagged off 22 operational vehicles, one number ambulance and 60 patrol motorcycles to enhance traffic management operations. To whom more is given, more is expected; the Directorate is now better poised to deliver on its mandate.
“To this end, the Directorate has switched from manual to computerised vehicle inspection scheme to ensure that vehicles plying our roads are truly roadworthy. They are also removing and writing off all non-road worthy vehicles from the FCT roads.
“The Directorate has improved on its road recovery activities in case of accidents through strategic positioning of its heavy-duty recovery equipment for a prompt response to emergencies.” She explained.