The Lagos State Government on Friday said that it inspected 1,023,812 vehicles and impounded 50,472 of them during the safety and enforcement inspections between May 2015 and May 5, 2016.Dr Dayo Mobereola, the Commissioner for Transportation disclosed this at the 2016 Ministerial briefing by the ministry at Ikeja.
Mobereola said no fewer than 65, 757 drivers were arrested for violation of traffic offences, 11, 797 of the inspected vehicles did not have Hackney Permits, Vehicle Licences, Insurance and Road Worthiness Certificates during the period under review.
He added that 13, 100 drivers did not have the Drivers’ Licence; 12,882 vehicles were not road worthy, while 464 vehicles were unpainted, with unpleasant inscriptions on their vehicles.
The commissioner said that 11, 067 vehicles had fake documents, 14, 050 drivers’ flouted the Lagos State Drivers’ Institute Law, 2397 drivers were found violating the vehicle accreditation law.
He said, “Transportation has the biggest clients in Lagos State with over 21 million people. We are responsible to ensure that people travel safely and in comfort.
“We have to provide an effective and efficient transport system. It is a noble profession that affects all and we need to professionalise it,’’ he said.
Mobereola said that all the motor routes in Lagos would have a public transport system.
The commissioner said that the state enforcement policy for traffic offenders was not driven by the urge for revenue, advising stakeholders to comply with traffic laws.
He said that the government had resolved to send traffic officers and Vehicle Inspection Service officers for foreign training, to improve their capacity.
Mobereola said government would create colour uniformity for public road or water transport with body tag showing routes.
He said that the mandate of the ministry was to pursue and integrate management transport system connecting road, rail, water and air together.
According to him, the ministry was committed to providing a transportation system for all residents, not excluding the special people.
He said that the state would soon phase out commercial buses, popularly called Danfo, and replace them with higher-capacity air-conditional buses with 30 seaters.
The commissioner said that ministry was committed to road redesigning, mitigating gridlock through traffic control, provision of bridges and multiple laybys.
He added that transport’s rebranding would include curbing of tendencies to violence, retraining of drivers, creation of an appropriate database, discipline, reflecting, new number plates and corporate outlook for operators.
Earlier, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Steve Ayorinde, said the ministry was critical to the achievements of the state government.
