VREG to grow FG’s annual revenue by 5%

By Steve Agbota 

The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has projected a 5 per cent rise in the nation’s annual revenue with the newly introduced National Vehicle Registry (VREG).

Aside this, the Ministry stated that VREG would provide detailed information on the history of any vehicle plying the country’s roads. VREG would also enable government agencies to track down any stolen vehicle in any part of the country.

The Federal Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, in April 2021, commenced moves to create a database for imported vehicles with a view to checkmating import duty evasion and theft.

VREG would provide lasting solutions to the menaces of Customs duty evasion, vehicle theft and vehicle-related crimes, as well as ineffective vehicle insurance coverage, among others, owing to the absence of a centralised nationwide vehicle information system.

Speaking at a one-day zonal sensitization seminar held in Lagos at the weekend, Director of Information, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr. Charles Nwodo, said the implementation of VREG would boost government revenue.

Nwodo hinted that the idea behind the sensitization program is to explain to relevant government agencies on the need to have a single window for vehicle registration in the country.

“Today’s event is epoch making in the sense that it would attract enormous revenue for government. It would also help to check the influx of vehicles into the country, especially the stolen ones. If we achieve this, we would be able to track down stolen vehicles.

“It would also help government and the individual to have the history of any vehicle plying the country’s roads. Government would be able to known if a vehicle is an accidented vehicle. VREG would be able to provide these and many other security details of any vehicle,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, the Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Frederick Oladeinde, disclosed that about three million vehicles ply the state roads and that a lot of crimes are committed using these vehicles, adding that mist of those who commit’s crimes do not have any fixed address.

“Aside boosting the revenue drive of the state, we also sees it as a way of cubing crime and making sure that Lagosians are safe. It would also provide us valid data on how to develop road infrastructures. It would help us harmonize data among various government agencies.