July 30, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government is incorporating electric vehicles into the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) Bill that is being considered at the National Assembly.
Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr. Jelani Aliyu, who disclosed the plan, also, expressed optimism that the NAIDP would be passed into law before the end of the year.
He spoke on Thursday during the 6th annual training and workshop of the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA) in Lagos.
The DG, who joined virtually, reiterated that electric vehicles remain the future of automobiles globally with many countries setting targets for migration into electric vehicles, saying Nigeria is also toeing a similar path.
Speaking at the workshop with the theme, “Migration to Electric Vehicles and Gas-Powered Vehicles; Opportunities and Challenges for Nigeria,” Jelani said, the EV is being incorporated into the NAIDP he assured would be passed before the end of the year.
According to him, 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.
He said all the new developments would be incorporated in the NAIDP.
On the charging stations for electric vehicles, the DG stressed that it is not the business of the Federal Government to put charging stations across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria.
The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Dr. Boboye Oyeyemi, said migration into electric vehicles would reduce the dangerous emissions from fossil fuel vehicles flooding the Nigerian market.
Oyeyemi, represented by the Lagos Sector Commander, Olusegun Ogungbemide, disclosed that 80 percent of vehicles are second-hand.
He said, “Some of them are as old as 30 years and when they come in, we embrace them as new vehicles, we subject them to the same activities that the new vehicles are being subjected to, not minding the costs.
“This migration is so important to Nigeria especially in the area of health. Many people are in the hospital in Lagos today which hitherto wouldn’t have been if our atmosphere had been so sanitized.
“The closest to it that we had in Lagos was during the lockdown when we had fewer vehicles on Nigerian roads. The Commissioner for Health testified to it when I visited him.
“During the lockdown, 70 to 80 per cent of vehicles with all these emissions were erased from the system with the exception of the articulated vehicles.”
THEWILL recalls that in October 2013, the Federal Government of Nigeria announced its National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP). In order to stimulate investment in local vehicle production and thereby bolster Nigeria’s economy instead of revenues heading abroad. A core component of the plan initially was an increase in import duties for passenger cars from 20 percent to 70 percent (35 percent duty and 35 percent levy) and to 35 percent for commercial vehicles.
However, the duty applied to vehicles assembled locally was set at 10 percent for SKD (semi-knockdown) Part 2 kits, 5 percent for SKD Part 1 kits and 0 percent for CKD (complete knock-down) kits.
Also, manufacturers that assemble vehicles locally can import up to twice as many Ffully Built Units (FBU) as they do kits at the reduced import duty rate of 35 percent for passenger cars and 20 percent for commercial vehicles.
The plan was fully implemented on July 1 and new car sales soared as consumers took advantage of the lower duty rates.
About the Author
Anthony Awunor, is a business correspondent who holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics (UNILAG). He is also an alumnus of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria Kaduna State. He lives in Lagos.
