Senate Committee on Industry and National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has promised to work towards laws that will reduce the cost of assembling vehicles in Nigeria.
This was made known on Monday when its members visited assembly plants in Lagos as part of its oversight functions.
Places visited include Dangote Sinotruk West Africa Limited, Nord Automobiles, and Simba TVS.
The committee, led by the vice chairman, Senator Shuaibu Lau, also had Senators Sadiq Umar, Victor Umeh, Ekong Sampson, and Benson Agadaga onboard.
Also on the visiting team was the Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, the Director of Policy, NADDC, Mr Sani Musa, and the Deputy Director of Press and Protocol, NADDC, Mrs Felicia Oyebolu.
Speaking shortly after the inspection of the assembly plants, Senator Lau said the visit was geared towards helping the automotive industry because the players are key to the growth of Nigeria’s economy.
Lau also urged vehicle assemblers to collaborate with the NADDC Director General to identify areas where lawmakers can enact laws to help reduce their production costs.
The upcoming laws are designed to create job opportunities.
The senator representing Taraba North said “We want them to expand and we have heard some of their problems and we will definitely look at them. When we look at them, those that require pieces of legislation, we will do; those that require advice to the executive, we will advise them with a view to solving the problem. We agree that there is a hard time but I believe we can surmount them”,
On compliance with the backward integration, policy, Lau said “It was evident that there is a serious attempt by the assemblers for backward integration. And in one, we have seen it. The other one, they have the intention to have started but they have not gone far. We encourage them to keep the momentum so that we reach our final destination”.
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Also speaking, Osanipin said oversight duty is statutory and that the senate committee has the statutory right to visit and perform its roles.
The NADDC DG who said he was impressed with what the visiting team saw, said they had given advice where necessary.
He hoped that by the time the committee returned in the first quarter of next year, there would be changes, improvements, and an increase in the percentage of local components used by the assemblers.
“These are the areas we want. We also discussed their challenges, some of them may require some legislation, and some will require one or two changes in policies. And some of them may also require themselves to do some things differently. That is why we met them and discussed with them.
“In 2025, we expect more backward integration and an increase in local component contributions to the automotive industry. We want the auto industry to create more jobs and stimulate the economy. We can incorporate more local components in the production of tricycles and motorcycles in Nigeria”.
Other areas the senate team wanted the auto manufacturers to look at, include compliance with backward integration, workers’ welfare, job creation, pricing, and outsourcing of raw materials.
The Senate committee members and the NADDC team toured the three assembly plants for several hours, where they were shown the vehicle manufacturing processes at each plant visited.
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