Senate urges FG, states to patronize local automobile factories

The Senate has asked the federal and state governments to ensure that henceforth it procures it's automobiles from local manufacturers across Nigeria to revive Nigeria’s automotive sector and reduce dependence on imported vehicles.

The Senate said that the local plants have the capacity to produce any type of car that the government needs, noting that other countries patronize their indigenous auto manufacturing companies.

The Senate Committee on Industry, Trade and Investments threw the challenge after it's overnight visitation of auto manufacturing and assembly plants in Enugu and Anambra states, on Thursday.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Adenigba Fadahunsi, who spoke to newsmen shortly after ins visit to Innoson, ANAMMCO and other car manufacturing plants in the south east, said the lawmakers were impressed with the company’s capacity to assemble new vehicles and refurbish abandoned government-owned fleets.

“We have found out that a lot of potentials are being wasted because of non-patronage by federal and state governments Instead of wasting foreign resources we don’t have on importation, let us buy from our own. Whatever we buy here will be reinvested into the economy," Fadahunsi said.

Describing ANAMMCO as “a renewed hope,” he said the company has recovered from years of ownership disputes and was now proving that Nigeria can assemble and manufacture modern vehicles, including CNG-powered buses. “There are no types of buses government is looking for that these local assemblers cannot produce,” he added.

Fadahunsi disclosed that the Senate will lobby ministries, departments and agencies to stop buying refurbished imported vehicles. “We will convince our colleagues to patronise these local manufacturers. We will even assist in enacting laws to support them,” he said.

The Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr. Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, said the automobile sector has huge multiplier effects on job creation, spare parts production and technical skill development. “Nigeria has the capacity to do great things in automobile,” he said.

Chief Operating Officer of ANAMMCO, Mr. Bennett Ejindu, said the committee’s visit shows that both the executive and legislature are renewing interest in industrialisation, especially in the auto sector. “It gives us a lot of hope that authorities within Nigeria are interested in reviving automotive manufacturing.

"No one expects the government to run the plants. What we want is for them to create an environment where private sector investments can survive. 

He emphasised the importance of passing the National Automotive Industry Development Policy into law, saying: "This will assure the automotive world that Nigeria is serious about protecting investments. Investors will not come if there is no confidence, protection, or long-term profit. NAIDP backed by law will change that.

“In the 1970s every government agency used Nigerian vehicles. Today, traders who have no interest in our economy import and sell much more than people who invest here. This does not happen in China, India, Morocco or South Africa,” he said.