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Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja 

The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has said that Uber drivers will be certified and profiled by security agencies and government to know the drivers’ identity before they can be allowed to operate in the nation’s capital.

He stated this during a chat with the media on the measures to improve security in the city.

“This is a city, if you don’t have rules, there will be problems. They would have to be registered. It tells you who the drivers are. We need to certify them. We need to profile them using the security agencies,” Wike said, adding that the FCTA is also planning to ban unpainted taxis and buses from plying FCT roads.

He said the measures were responses to curb the menace of ‘one chance’ which criminals have perfected to rob unsuspecting passengers in the nation’s capital.

“We are not going to allow vehicles that are not painted with FCT colour and registered by the FCTA to ply commercial roads in the territory.

“That way, you know the driver is certified by the FCT and the buses and the taxes were also approved by the FCT.

“When this is done, you as the passenger will not take the risk of going to enter any vehicle that you don’t even know,” Wike said.

He also added that the administration in the 2024 fiscal year intends to, at least, build three terminals where residents can go and board buses to their specific destinations.

“That way, you know the drivers and the vehicle that you are entering.  

“But currently, everybody is just on the road. You are going to Nyanya, a car is on the road, you enter; you are going to Wuye, a car is on the road you enter.

“What we are trying to do in the 2024 fiscal year is to at least build three terminals for a start, so that we will know the buses and taxes that will carry people from such terminals.

“When this is done, nobody will take the risk of going on the road to wait for a taxi. That way, you will be able to reduce crime,” Wike said.