By Joy Odor Reportcircle News
Nigeria is moving toward a single national identity trail for motorists as road safety authorities and the national identity agency sealed a major data-sharing pact aimed at tracking drivers, reducing crashes and tightening security.
The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Shehu Mohammed, announced the breakthrough after a strategic meeting with the Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engr. Adesoye Coker, in Abuja.
At the centre of the agreement is compulsory identity verification for motorists, a move officials say will end anonymous vehicle ownership and make offenders traceable anywhere in the country.
Mohammed declared that credible identity management is now a security priority, not merely an administrative procedure.
“A secure nation begins with knowing who individuals truly are. Proper identification strengthens law enforcement, crash reduction and national planning,” he said.
Under the plan, the National Identification Number (NIN) will be mandatory for:
vehicle registration
national driver’s licence issuance
driver records verification
Authorities believe the integration will clean up the motoring database and expose cloned registrations and fake licences.
The Corps Marshal said the reform would sanitise the transport sector and improve accountability on the highways.
Officials explained that many road crimes including hit-and-run, vehicle theft and bandit logistics thrive because drivers cannot be reliably identified.
By linking driver and vehicle records to a single identity database, enforcement agencies can track offenders across states in seconds rather than weeks.
Responding, NIMC Director-General Coker pledged full institutional cooperation, saying harmonised national databases are essential to modern governance.
She noted that closer collaboration will support crash prevention and broader national security objectives while improving accuracy of public records.
The identity agency also commended ongoing modernisation within the road safety corps and endorsed expanded joint innovation projects.
Security analysts say the reform could fundamentally alter road enforcement in Nigeria:
fake licences become difficult to obtain
stolen vehicles easier to trace
traffic offenders permanently identifiable
accident investigations faster
Officials described the meeting as another step toward a unified government identity architecture one database connecting citizens, vehicles and enforcement agencies.
For motorists, the message is clear: every car, every licence and every driver may soon carry a verifiable digital footprint.
In the emerging system, anonymity on Nigerian roads is fast becoming history.
