NEC backs NADDC on EV, CNG-powered vehicles to cushion subsidy removal

Nigeria’s National Economic Council, (NEC) has backed the move by the  National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), to begin mass production of Electric Vehicles and Compressed Natural Gas-powered vehicles in the country.

Addressing the inaugural NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima last week in Abuja, Jelani Aliyu, the NADDC director-general said the effort would cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal in the country.

According to the DG, modalities are already in place especially with the commencement of electric vehicles assembly in the country.

Aliyu stressed the need for adequate legislations to enable mass production of the vehicles.

Addressing State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Abia state governor, Alex Otti, said some of the decisions taken during the meeting included the need to give legislative support to automotive companies that are doing great things in the country.

He said: “The National Economic Council meeting presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima, on Thursday, brainstormed on the possibility of local manufacturing companies mass producing vehicles using Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, as their energy source.

Otti said: “A presentation was made by the National Automotive Design and Development Council on the great things that are happening in the automotive industry. It was that about six states in the country, including Lagos, Ogun, Anambra, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Kaduna and Kano have benefited from the domestic production of vehicles or the assembly of vehicles by Nigerian companies operating in Nigeria.

These companies include Innoson, Mikano, Dangote Peugeot, PAN, Stallion/Hyundai, Honda, Elizade/Toyota, Coscharis/Ford, Kojo Motors, Jet Systems Motors. At the moment, about 50,000 jobs have been created by this action of either assembling vehicles in Nigeria or producing them in Nigeria.

The governor said that a great feat is that some of these companies have gone into the manufacturing or assembly of electric vehicles and vehicles powered by( CNG) Compressed Natural Gas. The impact of this is that the pressure on the price of petroleum products particularly PMS will be reduced. The more we use electric vehicles and CNG powered vehicles.

It is important to underscore the point that the former president had made a commitment that by 2060 that Nigeria would join countries that will eliminate fossil fuel powered vehicles and move to electric vehicles in pursuit of the net zero emission that some of the countries in Europe, America and Asia have signed on to.

“So if that must happen, then we need to ramp up the production of electric vehicles and CNG vehicles.It is estimated that if we give legislative support to these companies, that about a million jobs from the 50,000 jobs that exist in that industry would be created”.

NEC also suggested that the funding that is required by most of these vehicle manufacturers and assemblers shall be made available to them. So that we begin to reduce the dependence on PMS and other fossil fuel powered vehicles.

MIKE OCHONMA