Operators in the automobile industry have begun to laud moves by the federal government to review the automotive policy which was introduced in 2013 by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA); Ms Hadiza Bala Usman made the disclosure recently.
However, car dealers and importers have expressed high hopes on the development, even as they called on government to ameliorate the situation currently being faced by stakeholders in the informal sub sector.
Speaking on the renewed effort for government to review the auto policy last week, a stakeholder and Chairman of NextMotor Network; Chief Paul Okonji told Auto Port Weekly that government have no option than listen to the cry of the masses.
Okonji maintained that the policy is a curse to the sector and indeed the economy of Nigeria, adding that thousands of businessmen in the sector have jettisoned importation of cars from overseas.
The car dealer further appealed to government to work assiduously to ensure that the policy favours the immediate operators, who according to him are the car dealers and importers.
He lamented that vehicle importation and sales have declined since the introduction of the policy, appealing to the Buhari-led government to revisit the policy to enable the operators to remain in business.
According to him, the policy has not aided local manufacturing of vehicles in Nigeria, considering the level of factors militating against local production.
Okonji stressed the need for the concerned ministries to brainstorm on the best to possible way of managing the situation for the growth of the economy.
However, other stakeholders who spoke to our correspondent at the popular Berger Automobile Market in Apapa expressed shock that it is taking the government so long to consider a review of the policy.
Speaking, one of them; Chief Magnus Chibuike noted that, "since the appointment of the ministers last year by President Buhari, they ought to have swung into action by proffering solution to the problems of the automobile industry because it was obvious the issue has political and economic implication"
"We only hope that what they are saying this time around is not empty promises "
Responding to the assurance given by the government, he noted that "a lot have been said by the Buhari led government on the policy, yet nothing has been achieved so far".
Another stakeholder; an importer, Somtochukwu Uche said the move was a welcome development, but he appealed to the government to expedite action and bring the promise to pass.
FG To Launch Interest Free Automobile Loan Scheme Soonest
The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) says the Federal Government is to launch a Vehicle Credit Acquisition Scheme to help Nigerians purchase locally assembled vehicles.
Mr Luqman Mamudu, the Director Policy and Planning, NADDC, made this known at an interactive session with journalists in Lagos.
He said that the council would contribute about N7.5 billion interest free fund to the scheme with counterpart funding from a company in South Africa to help Nigerians have brand new vehicles.
He said that the South African company would provide more of the funds for the scheme in conjunction with the African Development Bank (AfDB). Mamudu said that Nigeria had the capacity to produce 384,000 units of vehicles annually
“Unfortunately, the country only produced 25,000 units in 2015.“We have been in talks with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to also source for funds to support the credit scheme being planned by the Federal Government in conjunction with our council
“We have also been working with OEMs in their associations to invest in the local automobile assembling, and even industrial assembling clusters.
“Their major demands have been for the government and relevant agencies to work harder to implement ways to reduce the influx of used cars which has been choking the market.
“We are also glad to announce that three testing laboratories for locally-assembled vehicles are also in the works and these are not just for motorcars alone, but for tractors and heavy-duty vehicles.
“We have not reached our potentials as a nation for locally-assembled vehicles, but we have the capacity to do so,” Mamudu said.
He said that all efforts to achieve the Nigerian Automobile Policy had been in place and the council was planning to partner the Nigerian Customs Service to stop importation of used cars through the borders.
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