THE Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) have initiated the process of making digital addressing a condition for issuing drivers’ licenses in the Nigeria.
The digital addressing platform which obtains and verifies addresses through technology seeks to authenticate all addresses provided by Nigerians.
Digital addressing, a NIPOST initiative, will give more credibility to documents issued by the government such as the drivers’ license, vehicle registration, national identity number (NIN), national passport, and voter’s card, among others, a statement issued by the NIPOST’s Director of Corporate Communication, Franklyn Alao, said.
The initiative is capable of tracking fake addresses, according to the statement.
The statement said every address verified by NIPOST would have a code that bearers would use to obtain other services, such as issuing a driver’s license by the FRSC.
The decision was part of talks between the Postmaster General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of NIPOST, Ismail Adewusi, and the Corps Marshal of the FRSC, Boboye Oyeyemi when the former visited the latter in his Abuja office during the week.
While commending Oyeyemi for the digitalization efforts of the FRSC in recent years, he said NIPOST, as one of the oldest government agencies, was developing different technological tools to remain a formidable institution.
He said many people put wrong or untraceable addresses, resulting in service or tracking failure when needed.
Adewusi explained that the platform would address such errors by digitizing addresses and ensuring that the information provided is genuine.
He further requested that FRSC allow NIPOST to handle the delivery of all driver’s licenses in the country.
He argued that NIPOST could deliver postal items within 48 hours with utmost security.
Responding, Oyeyemi commended NIPOST’s “innovative and improved services”.
He said holders of driver’s license who change address would need to update it by having the digital address.
Applicants and those who seek to update their license would pay a token to NIPOST to obtain a code for their digital address.
Besides, Oyeyemi stated that the FRSC would soon begin to demand the National Identity Number (NIN) for vehicle registration and driver’s licences.
He said the adoption of digital addressing by his organization would make its work more seamless.
“If applicants don’t provide verifiable addresses, such applications may not be granted. This is something that everybody will embrace,” he said.
He added that the FRSC needed verified addresses to apprehend traffic offenders for vehicle registration and driver’s license issuance.
Marcus bears the light, and he beams it everywhere. He's a good governance and decent society advocate. He's The ICIR Reporter of the Year 2022 and has been the organisation's News Editor since September 2022. Contact him via email @ [email protected].