A guide to getting your Nigerian driver’s licence in 2026.
Before a first-time applicant can fill in anything on the Federal Road Safety Corps licence portal, the system asks for a driving school certificate number. Without that number, the form will not open. That single field sets the order of everything else, because the certificate comes only from a school the FRSC has accredited.
Three offices touch your file: the FRSC, your state Vehicle Inspection Office, and your State Board of Internal Revenue. Each handles a different stage, and you visit them in sequence.
Who Can Apply For Drivers Licence in Nigeria
The FRSC lists two conditions on the national driver’s licence portal: you must be 18 or older, and you must have completed driving school. Nobody can process the application on your behalf either. The Corps states plainly that the applicant has to appear in person.
Start at accredited driving school
Only schools registered under the Driving School Standardisation Programme can generate the certificate number the portal accepts. The FRSC publishes the full list of accredited driving schools, filterable by state and registration number, and it currently carries 909 schools.
DSSP launched in May 2010 to bring uniform standards to driver training across the country. In each state, a committee chaired by the Commissioner for Works and Transport oversees it, with the state BIR chairman, the FRSC sector commander and the Chief Vehicle Inspection Officer sitting as members. Schools that fall below standard can be suspended or closed.
Ask any school you are considering for its FRSC registration number, then check that number against the portal list before you pay for lessons.
Fill the application on the FRSC Portal
The official address is nigeriadriverslicence.frsc.gov.ng. The older nigeriadriverslicence.org address redirects there automatically.
Open the DL Application menu, choose New Driver’s Licence, then pick either Motor Vehicle or Motor Cycle and Tricycle. When the system asks whether you hold a previous licence, answer no. Enter your certificate number and the form opens.
The form runs to four sections: Personal Details, Contact Details, Processing Centre and Licence Type, and Review and Pay. The third section carries the decisions that stick. That is where you name the centre where your biometrics will be captured and choose either three-year or five-year validity. A fresh applicant may hold a maximum of two classes, A and B.
You can edit an application at any point before payment goes through. Unpaid applications are purged after three months, so finish and pay inside that window.
Choosing the right licence class
A letter denotes the class, and the letter fixes which vehicles you are allowed to operate. The FRSC recognises classes A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and J. Class A covers motorcycles and Class B covers private motor vehicles, which is why fresh applicants are limited to those two.
One card can carry up to three classes. Adding a class later runs through the renewal route if your current licence has expired, or the reissue route if it is still valid, and the form then lets you add or remove classes. A Class B holder who adds Class A ends up with both denotations on the same physical card. The portal warns that an upgrade ends the validity of your existing licence number and bills you for both categories.
What Driver’s Licence Costs In Nigeria
The FRSC publishes its fees on the portal FAQ page.
Two conditions come attached. Some payment channels add their own charges, and applicants who take more than one class are billed separately for each.
You can pay by card on the portal with Visa or Mastercard, in cash at a participating bank through Innovate1pay or PayArena, on a POS terminal at the licence centre you selected, or from a NetPostPay eWallet.
Paying the fee from outside Nigeria
Fees are quoted and collected in naira, so relatives abroad covering the cost usually move funds to a Nigerian account first and let the applicant pay on the portal. Work out what the amount comes to in your own currency with a currency converter before you transfer, then send money to Nigeria through a licensed operator. Families on the Canadian corridor can send money from Canada to Nigeria straight into a Nigerian bank account.
The test, the endorsement and biometric capture.
The FRSC sets out six stages once the form is submitted.
- Complete the driver’s licence application form online.
- Visit the VIO for your driving test.
- Pay the licence fee online or at a bank.
- Confirm the payment at your State Board of Internal Revenue office.
- Report to the FRSC officer at the Driver’s Licence Centre for biometric capture.
- Return to your DLC, MLA or VIO with your application form or temporary card to collect the original licence.
Each office wants evidence from the stage before it, so keep the acknowledgment slip, the payment receipt and the temporary licence together in one place.
Track the application and activate the digital card
The portal carries a Track DL Application Status page. Supply either your Application ID or your driver’s licence number, along with your date of birth, and it returns the current stage of your file.
The FRSC also runs eNDL, a digital version of the licence. Activation needs a completed application including biometric enrolment, and the app is available on Android only for now.
Getting Started
Paying for a driver’s licence is a different matter. Plenty of first licences in Nigeria are funded by an older sibling or a parent working in Canada, Europe, the UK or the US, and the fee has to be in naira before the applicant can complete the portal payment.
CadRemit moves that money in minutes across North America, Europe and Nigeria easily. It is FINTRAC registered, authorised by the Bank of Canada as a Payment Services Provider, and licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria as an International Money Transfer Operator, with more than 10,000 users on the app.
If you are the one covering the cost, send it before the driving school certificate expires from the portal’s three-month window.
