Friday, May 16, 2025 - A bill seeking to compel ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to purchase of Nigerian-made vehicles has passed second reading in the senate.
The legislation, titled ‘Local Automotive Industry Patronage
Bill, 2025’, is sponsored by Patrick Ndubueze, senator representing Imo
north.
Ndubueze introduced the bill in October 2024 and passed its
first reading.
Debating on the bill during plenary, Ndubueze said Nigeria’s
overdependence on imported automobiles has continued to weaken the naira and
damage local industries.
“Any country that aims to achieve steady economic growth and
development must have a policy that encourages and provides a framework for
local production,” he said.
“It is also important that goods and services are produced
locally, as its ripple effect is a reduction in imports and a rise in exports
(balance of trade).”
The senator said Nigeria had failed to institutionalise the
use of indigenous brands and instead glorified foreign products of no superior
value.
“Today we see the seesawing of the naira, and with every
plunge, inflation bites harder,” he said.
Ndubueze said 54 automobile manufacturing licences had been
issued in Nigeria, noting that only six companies remain operational due to
forex shortages and poor infrastructure.
He added that many automobile firms had moved to Ghana,
where they are now setting up plants to produce vehicles for the Nigerian
market.
“How do we stem the free fall of the naira if we cannot
address our appetite for foreign goods?” he queried.
“How do we support the development of indigenous brands if
the biggest spender, year on year — the government — refuses to buy
made-in-Nigeria goods?”
He proposed that at least 75 percent of vehicles procured by
public officers and civil servants be locally manufactured, not merely
assembled.
“This is the first step to saving our economy, protecting
our currency, and creating jobs for our people,” he said.
He said only firms with at least 70 percent Nigerian
workforce, 75 percent local research and development (R&D) spend, and
technology such as robotic painting machines and electrophoresis systems should
qualify as local manufacturers.
“Government support for local industry should be seen as
both strategically important, a long-term investment, and a national security
imperative,” he said.
He cited China, India, and Malaysia as examples of countries
that banned imported cars in their early years to grow domestic
industries.
“Today, these countries have perfected their local
processes, and we are now importing their products, some of which cannot
compete with our locally manufactured vehicles,” he said.
Mohammed Monguno, senate chief whip and senator representing
Borno central, said the bill would give legal backing to an existing directive
by the federal executive council (FEC) on the use of local products.
“This law will insulate the directive from the whims and
caprices of subsequent administrations who may want to reverse it,” he
said.
Barau Jibrin, deputy senate president and the presiding
officer, said the bill would “provide jobs for automobile engineers in the
country and encourage more investors to move into the sector.”
The deputy senate president said the bill will “strengthen
our economy and the naira and galvanise the automobile industry.
“We hope the process to get it assented to by the president
will be expeditious,” Barau added.
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