Fashola Directs Stoppage Of Arrests For MOT Offences
• As LASG moves to halt faking of MOT Test Certificates
Gov. Fashola has directed that henceforth, no motorist in Lagos State should be arrested or contravened on account of the possession of inauthentic Ministry of Transport (MOT) Test Certificate.
Rather than arrest or contravention, the Governor directed that any motorist caught with such fake document should be issued a docket with a moratorium of 21 days within which to rectify the anomaly and obtain a genuine document.
Disclosing the directive Sunday at a Joint Press Briefing in conjunction with his Motor Vehicle Administration Agency counterpart, Mr. Akin Hansen, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Oluseyi Coker, said the directive was aimed at nipping in the bud the circulation of fake MOT document in the State.
According to the Permanent Secretary, the Governor also directed that only motorists who breach clear traffic offences as specified in the Traffic Law and Highway Code could be arrested.
Coker further disclosed that through the activities of the Vehicle Inspection Unit of the Ministry of Transportation, it was recently discovered that fake MOT certificates are in circulation which predictably lack the security features on the authentic certificate.
He also revealed that certain centres whose operators failed to renew their licenses, have continued operating using touts that often use their Test Centres to issue MOT test certificates and documents such as Bank pay-slip and allied documents.
The Permanent Secretary reiterated that the State Government’s Law enforcement and Traffic Management Strategies and officers are not aimed at revenue generation but to make the roads safe and sane for the use and convenience of Law-abiding citizens.
Lamenting that most vehicle owners engage the services of third party to collect the certificate, Coker said the procedure for obtaining the MOT Test Certificate still remained that the vehicle owner should make a statutory payment at the Government approved bank- Sterling Bank- before the vehicle and the bank’s pay-slips are taken to any duly certified designated MOT Test Centre for the issuance of MOT Certificate after necessary inspection has been conducted on the vehicle.
He warned, “In view of the foregoing, Government is not liable for any transaction that does not follow the aforementioned due process”, adding that the directive of the Governor is part of the steps being taken by the State Government in its avowed determined to nip in the bud the nefarious activities of touts and bring to book anyone found guilty in this regard.
Other steps taken by the Government in this direction, the Permanent Secretary said, include the publishing of the list of duly certified and licensed MOT centres and the mobile phone numbers of Government officials to contact in cases of any anomalies concerning the MOT.
On the allegations of excesses by some LASTMA officials on the State’s highways, Coker stated, “For the avoidance of doubt, our law enforcement and Traffic Management Strategies and officers are not aimed at revenue generation but rather meant to make our roads safe and sane for the use and convenience of law-abiding citizens”.
“The acts of a few bad eggs in our traffic agencies should not be misconstrued as a reflection of the character of the hardworking men and women who are clearly in the majority”, the permanent Secretary said, directing members of the public who are harassed on account of non-original MOT document, to lodge their complaints by sending SMS to 08033056975, 08033239057 or 070249983.
Calling on all public officer in the State to “conscientiously carryout the new directive on the operation of MOT and motorists in the State “to make that extra effort to obtain genuine documents in every transaction”, Coker declared, “I will like to end this address with the oft-repeated call by His Excellency, the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) that traffic officers, LASTMA officials and, indeed, all public officials are in employment for only one reason – to provide service to all law-abiding citizens of Lagos State”.
In his contribution, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Mr. Hakeem Bello, urged the media, as the link between the Government and the people to endeavor at all times to carry out this noble duty by putting the right information in the public domain.
Also present at the occasion were the Director of Projects, Ministry of Transportation, Engineer Remi Thomas, a director in the Motor Vehicle Management Agency, Mr. M.A. Buraimoh, among other officials from both government establishments.

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