A bill seeking to compel Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to prioritise the purchase of Nigerian-made vehicles has passed second reading in the Senate.
The legislation, titled, “Local Automotive Industry Patronage Bill, 2025′, is sponsored by Senator Patrick Ndubueze (Imo North).
A member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Ndubueze introduced the bill last October and it passed its first reading.
Leading the debate on the bill during plenary on Thursday, Ndubueze said that Nigeria’s overdependence on imported automobiles has continued to weaken the naira and damage local industries.
He said: ‘Any country that aims to achieve steady economic growth and development must have a policy that encourages and provides a framework for local production.
‘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 that Nigeria had failed to institutionalise the use of indigenous brands and instead glorified foreign products of no superior value.
He argued: Today we see the seesawing of the naira, and with every plunge, inflation bites harder’.
Ndubueze said that 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.
He asked: ‘How do we stem the free fall of the naira if we cannot address our appetite for foreign goods?.
‘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’, Ndubueze said.
He said that only firms with at least 70% Nigerian workforce, 75% local research and development spend, and technology such as robotic painting machines and electrophoresis systems should qualify as local manufacturers.
