After a long wait, the Nigerian automobile industry stakeholders have been assured that the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) bill will be passed into law before the end of 2021.
The Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Jelani Aliyu gave the assurance on Thursday during the 6th annual training and workshop of the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA) held in Lagos.
According to Aliyu, who joined the event virtually, one of the new additions into the NAIDP bill is a provision concerning Electric Vehicle (EV) technology, standard and manufacturing in Nigeria.
He said: “NAIDP bill will be passed before the, and it will become law. A lot of developments like the EVs as well as gas-powered vehicles are springing up as the government fine-tunes the auto policy bill. We have incorporated them into the bill for the interest of the nation’s auto industry and economic development.
Speaking on the workshop’s theme: “Migration to Electric Vehicles and Gas-powered Vehicles; Opportunities & Challenges for Nigeria,” the NADDC DG reiterated that EVs remain the future of automobile globally with many countries setting target for migration into electric vehicles, adding that Nigeria is also toeing similar path.
Fielding questions from journalists, the DG stressed that it is not the business of the Federal Government to install EV charging stations across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.
“99 percent of petrol stations in Nigeria are privately owned,” he pointed out, adding, “So it is the private sector that will do it (set up EV charging stations), not the federal government. However, we are working on the blueprint and technicalities to ensure they do it right.”
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