Despite the fact that it is mandatory for all vehicles to have a minimum of third-party motor insurance certificates, Nigeria has recorded a decline in the number of vehicles with genuine insurance certificate on Nigerian roads.
According to The Punch, the number of vehicles with fake certificates on Nigerian road is now 9.04 million, as latest figure revealed.
The figures obtained by the Nigerian Insurers Association revealed that only 2.72 million vehicles on Nigerian roads had valid insurance covers as of February.
Also, the data from the National Bureau of Statistics estimated Nigeria’s vehicle population at 11.76 million.
The NIA had in February 2016 disclosed that about 4.3 million vehicles had been registered on its Nigerian Insurance Industry Data.
In January 2019, the association revealed that just over three million vehicles were still on its NIID, which showed an increasing number of fake certificates on Nigerian roads.
The objectives of the NIID are to provide qualitative statistics/analysis of the industry data as a vehicle for easy verification of genuine insurance certificates by all stakeholders.
It also seeks to reduce incidents of fraudulent insurance transactions, especially for vehicles.
The platform was enhanced to include information to help recover stolen vehicles and claims reporting modules.
The Insurance Act 2003 mandates all motorists to have a minimum of third party motor insurance policy in place.
Section 68 of the 2003 Insurance Act says, “No person shall use or cause or permit any other person to use a motor vehicle on a road unless a liability which he may thereby incur in respect of damage to the property of third parties is insured with an insurer registered under this Act.”
It further explains that the insurance of this section covers liability of not less than N1m.
According to the Act, a person who contravenes the provisions of this section commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of N250,000 or imprisonment for one year or both.
Despite the fact that the statutory laws of the country stipulate that no motorist should move on Nigerian roads without being in possession of genuine insurance certificates, most motorists have continued to show absolute disregard for this statutory requirement.
