Mr Babatunde Farinloye, the Lagos Corps Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), has asked drivers to stop operating vehicles with faded license plates to avoid prosecution.

In a Friday interview with Newsmen in Lagos, Farinloye offered the suggestion.

He advised drivers to always wash their license plates with water and soap to avoid having them fade.

He claims that the number plate won't expire for six years, though it might start to have issues like damage and fading before then.

According to him, number plates are used for accurate identification, security, and personalization of each vehicle.

“A vehicle can be used to commit crime and if that happens, we can track it on our National Vehicle Identification Scheme.

“It is expected that number plate should be replaced after six years except the security feature are intact and it will be visible within 60 metres distance.

“Number plate can fade easily which can be a result of chemicals being used to wash the car.

“If you look at the top right of the number plate, you will see the expiry date. Normally, a number plate can be used for six years before it fades, ” Farinloye said.

The corps commander added that the State Government Motor Licensing Authority, which reports to the Board of Internal Revenue, provided new plates while the FRSC just generated license plates.

He advised drivers to immediately notify the appropriate authority whenever they see any damage to their license plates so that the necessary replacements can be made.

Farinloye pointed out that the FRSC system has recorded the offence of faded license plates under number plate violation ever since it was implemented.

“There are so many offences rated under the number plate violation such as broken number plate, faded number plate, covered number plate, non-use of the number plate and we have misuse of number plate.

“These are the categories of offences that fall within this violation,” he explained.

According to Farinloye, the worn-out license plate is currently the subject of a lot of discussions due to its potential moral and security ramifications.