The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has unveiled a new contactless biometric capture system for driver’s licence issuance, marking a major leap in Nigeria’s journey toward digital motor vehicle administration.
The innovation was introduced on Monday in Abuja during the flag-off of the 2025 Ember Months Road Safety Campaign, themed “Tech Responsibility for Your Safety: Stop Distracted Driving.”
The annual initiative aims to reduce traffic crashes and fatalities typically associated with the festive season between mid-December and mid-January.
According to the Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed, the new contactless system will eliminate delays and the use of temporary licences, enabling applicants to receive their permanent driver’s licence immediately after biometric capture.
The process, he said, will function as a “one-stop digital service” that combines application, verification, and printing within minutes.
Mohammed explained that the upgrade followed consultations with key stakeholders, including state governments, as driver’s licensing falls under a concurrent legislative responsibility.
The contactless system, he noted, uses advanced technology to read fingerprints without physical contact and is fully synchronized with the National Identification Number (NIN) database to ensure consistency and accuracy.
The FRSC’s printing facility has also been upgraded to produce an average of 15,000 licences daily, a capacity expected to increase further to completely clear the backlog of pending applications before November 2025.
In a demonstration at the FRSC Driver’s Licence Print Farm, the Deputy Corps Marshal for Motor Vehicle Administration, Aliyu Datsama, confirmed that the system is already functional and will soon be deployed nationwide, including Lagos and other major states.
Datsama revealed that the FRSC had reduced its backlog of unprocessed driver’s licences from 800,000 to 400,000, with efforts ongoing round-the-clock to clear the remainder.
He added that the Corps now produces about 40,000 licences daily and appealed to motorists who have completed the capture process to collect their unclaimed licences, which number more than 206,000 across various states.
The FRSC’s new digital licence framework is designed to integrate driving schools, Vehicle Inspection Offices (VIO), and certification processes, creating a streamlined and efficient licensing system across Nigeria.
With this development, the Corps said, long delays, temporary licences, and data inconsistencies in driver’s licence processing are expected to become a thing of the past.
