By Tonye Clinton Jaja
As of May 2024, the Kingdom of Lesotho has no legislation for imposition of mandatory Third Party Insurance Policy.
According to a report: “In Lesotho, the roads have become a battleground for accountability, with drivers exploiting legal loopholes to evade responsibility after accidents. The absence of mandatory third-party motor insurance amplifies this issue, leaving innocent victims stranded with hefty repair bills and little recourse..”
Early January 2025, the driver that normally picks me to and fro my office at the Lesotho Law Reform Commission, came to pick me from work and I noticed that his car’s back bumper was falling. I enquired and he said that he had been involved in an accident. The person that caused the accident had no money immediately to fix it, so they agreed that it will only be by the end of the month when he receives his salary before he can pay for the repairs of the said car.
So Nigeria is doing well, at least better than other African countries wherein there is no mandatory implementation of third party motor vehicle insurance.
For those who may not know below are the details:
“Motor vehicle third-party insurance, also known as third-party liability insurance, protects the policyholder from legal claims if they cause damage or injury to a third party in an accident. It’s a legal requirement for some vehicles.
What it covers
- Property damage: Covers damage to other vehicles, property, or shops.
- Injury or death: Covers injury or death to other people.
- Legal proceedings: Covers related legal proceedings.
- Other expenses: Covers other expenses, such as hiring a replacement vehicle. Who it protects
•Protects the policyholder from legal claims made by third parties
•Protects the policyholder from financial losses caused by the accident. Who can take out a policy
•The owner of the vehicle can take out a policy
•A lawful possessor authorized by the owner can take out a policy”
It is against this background, that we must commend the Nigerian Police for its determination to enforce the mandatory third party motor vehicle insurance policy as from 1st February 2025.
This is the time for us to pour encomiums upon the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) for implementing this initiative!!
Congratulations are in order, this is the time to bestow POSITIVE accolades and sobriquets upon the IGP such as: “motor-loving IGP”; “INSURED IGP”; and “Third Party IGP” just to mention a few (never mind Sowore with his negative sobriquets: “(IL) Legal IGP”.
My only quibble is that majority of the Nigerian Police officers who are to implement this third party insurance policy have not themselves seen what it looks like!!
Shouldn’t there be an orientation for these police officers?
I remember a real life story that shows that the level of literacy amongst police officers is very, very low.
A police officer stopped my car along the way and asked for my vehicle particulars, it was a direct Belgium car, so I had not even gone to get a new number plate for it.
I was using the number plate from my former car on it.
So the number plate on the car and the chassis number on the vehicle particulars are different and any literate police officer could have detected it.
With confidence, I opened the pigeon hole and handed him the documents. After he had METICULOUSLY pored over the documents, one by one, for over five minutes.
The police officer smiled and returned all my vehicle documents to me and said: “OGA find us something make we use wash this your new car now”!!!
Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja,
Executive Director,
Nigerian Law Society (NLS).
