From Marcel Duru Owerri
The Commissioner for Transport Chief Emeka Okoronkwo has announced the end of a compulsory painting, fleeting, routing and revalidation exercise for all township commercial vehicles which isin line with the Imo State Control of Public Transit Law No. 3 of 2007, which requires all commercial vehicles to operate under the statutory colour code of the state.Speaking with Journalists at the Ministry the Commissioner for Transport, Emeka Okoronkwo,said that operators of commercial minibuses across the state have been directed to report to Digital City Limited, (formerly ICAPS), along Egbu Road in Owerri for the statutory process.Okoronkwo explained that the exercise is intended to strengthen the safety of passengers and improve the identification of vehicles in daily operation, adding thatuniform colour coding and proper fleet documentation will help security agencies monitor movement more effectively and reduce the use of unregistered vehicles in criminal activity.
He highlighted that the state has recorded cases of duplicate and forged plates used by illegal operators, a situation the Ministry believes has undermined order and exposed passengers to unnecessary risks, and the revalidation exercise is expected to eliminate these irregularities and restore proper identification across the entire transport sector.”The exercise also addresses the issue of fake fleeting and routing permits, which have allowed vehicles without proper clearance to use designated routes. The Ministry noted that such practices threaten both safety and regulation and must be brought to an end through strict verification”According to the Ministry, the objective is to raise the standard of public transportation, strengthen the state’s identity system and improve the security of passengers, operators and the wider community.”
Operators have been given a grace period from now to the end of January 2026 to comply and after this period, the state will begin full enforcement. Okoronkwo further stated that any commercial vehicle that has not completed the required painting, fleeting, routing and revalidation by the close of the grace window will be impounded.The Ministry urged all operators to use the available period to complete the process without delay, warning that the enforcement phase will be firm and uncompromising
