The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) has announced the rollout of vehicle number plates with the 26 suffix, effective Friday, January 2, 2026, following delays in implementing a new vehicle registration regime.
According to the Authority, the shift from the 25 suffix to 26 was necessary because the required legal changes could not be completed before Parliament went on recess.
As a result, the DVLA says it had no option but to continue operating under the existing year-based registration system.
The move comes after months of public anticipation surrounding a proposed new number plate system that would have removed year identifiers altogether.
The planned system was also expected to introduce digitally scannable plates to support vehicle tracking, toll collection, speed monitoring and law enforcement activities.
However, the introduction of the new plates depends on amendments to the Road Traffic Regulations known as L.I. 2180.
Those amendments were not passed in time, making it legally impossible for the Authority to roll out the new regime.
Explaining the situation in an interview, Director of Corporate Affairs at the DVLA, Stephen Attuh, said, “The regulations we need to amend before introducing the new plates could not be completed before Parliament went on recess, and as a law guided institution, we are compelled to continue with the current registration system until those amendments are done”.
He added that the Authority has therefore moved from the 2025 suffix to the 2026 suffix as required under the existing framework.
The DVLA has assured vehicle owners and the general public that the new registration system will be introduced once Parliament approves the necessary amendments.
Until then, all vehicle registrations across the country will continue to carry the familiar year-based suffixes.
