The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has begun taking steps to finalize the proposed National Automotive Industry Bill, 2026, as the Nigerian Automobile Manufacturers Association (NAMA) called for a performance-based policy framework capable of boosting investment, local manufacturing and component development.
The Council expressed this commitment on Thursday at a stakeholders meeting on the bill in Lagos, where automakers, assemblers, component suppliers, industry associations and other stakeholders reviewed the proposed legislation.
At the forum, the Director General and CEO of NADDC, Otunba Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, said the Council was committed to developing a legal framework capable of transforming Nigeria’s automotive ecosystem into a self-sufficient and globally competitive industrial value chain.
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Addressing stakeholders, Osanipin said: “When this management team assumed leadership at NADDC, our vision was clear: to move Nigeria’s automotive ecosystem from mere assembly potential to a robust industrial value chain anchored on local content, component manufacturing, vehicle electrification and regional market integration.”
“However, achieving this ambition requires an unshakable foundation. Policy inconsistency, legislative gaps and outdated legal frameworks have historically created uncertainty for investors. The National Automotive Design and Development Council Act of 2014 laid an important foundation, but the dynamics of global manufacturing, green mobility transitions and regional trade integration, particularly under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), demand that we improve our legal architecture.”
“The National Automotive Industry Bill, 2026, represents a bold legislative reform. By converting the Council into the National Automotive Design and Development Commission, this bill aims to: establish a statutory institutional framework with strong regulatory and enforcement mandates; legally safeguard the incentives, protections and implementation structures of the Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP); create a predictable, transparent and investment-friendly environment that provides OEMs with (OEM), component suppliers and financiers the confidence to commit “long-term capital to Nigeria and accelerate local value addition, supplier development and sustainable job creation for our youth,” he said.
As a Council, the Director General noted that they firmly believe that legislation designed for the private sector must be drafted with the private sector. The bill before you today is not a finished product, set in stone; It is a collaborative template. We have deliberately convened this session to hear from you, the plant managers, local assemblers, component manufacturers and key industry bodies like NAMA and MAN who navigate the daily operational realities of our market.
“We want to know: where do these provisions support your growth? Where do they create obstacles? How can we refine this framework to position Nigeria as the undisputed automotive manufacturing hub of West Africa?” he added.
While NAMA expressed support for the enactment of a modern National Automotive Industry Act, its Chairman, Mr Bawo Omagbitse, said substantial amendments were needed to ensure that the legislation functions not only as a regulatory framework but also as a catalyst for automobile industrialisation.
Speaking at the stakeholders’ meeting, Omagbitse said the fundamental question the bill must address is whether its provisions would make it commercially attractive for investors to manufacture vehicles and components in Nigeria instead of relying on imports.
He said the automotive sector was an anchor industry with extensive links with steel, aluminium, plastics, rubber, glass, batteries, electronics, chemicals, engineering, logistics, finance, ICT, technical education and research and development.
According to him, the proposed law should establish a clear and balanced industrial pact between the government and investors, in which the government provides predictable policies, appropriate incentives, market support and investment protection, while the industry commits to measurable objectives in investment, production, employment, local content, supplier development, technology transfer, research and development and exports.
He said: “We recognize the need to replace the existing legal framework with legislation that reflects the changing realities of our industry, including new technologies, electric mobility, consumer protection, standards, vehicle safety and the growing importance of local manufacturing. However, after careful review of the proposed Bill, the industry believes that substantial amendments are required before the Bill becomes law. Our primary concern is that the Bill, in its current form, is stronger as law. regulatory and institutional that as an industrialization law. Provides licenses, standards, inspection, sanctions, testing, consumer protection, clean mobility and administration of industrial funds.
Raising a fundamental question before the industry, Omagbitse, who also sits on the NADDC Board of Directors representing NAMA, said: “What will make it commercially rational for an investor to manufacture vehicles and components in Nigeria rather than simply importing them into Nigeria? That question, he said, must be at the heart of this legislation.
“The automotive industry is not an ordinary business sector. It is an anchor industry with links to steel, aluminium, plastics, rubber, glass, batteries, electronics, chemicals, engineering, logistics, finance, ICT, technical education and research and development. Therefore, a successful automotive industry does much more than assembling vehicles. It creates an industrial ecosystem. Nigeria’s current automotive policy already sets ambitious goals: transitioning production from SKD to CKD, higher content local, increase in national production, job creation and development of new locally produced energy vehicles.
The proposed legislation should do more than reaffirm these aspirations. The Nigerian Automotive Industry Act, 2026 should create legally predictable mechanisms that make aspirations commercially achievable. Our recommendation is that the bill establishes a clear and balanced industrial pact between the Government and investors. Under this pact, the Government would provide predictable policies, appropriate incentives, market support and investment protection. In return, the industry would make measurable commitments in investment, production, employment, local content, supplier development, technology transfer, research and development and, where commercially viable, exports. This simply implies that there will be no industrial incentive without industrial performance and no obligation for industrial performance without predictable government support. In our view, that is the balance that is currently missing from the Bill.
He recommended that the bill be strengthened around several critical pillars, including investment and political certainty. Establishment of a predictable Automotive Tariff and Industrial Protection Framework that must have a clear and rational relationship between the tariff treatment of Completely Built Vehicles; SKD kits; CKD kits and locally manufactured components; a solid and practical development program for local components and content; creation of a properly structured Automobile Development Fund. The fund proposed in the bill is potentially one of its most important provisions, but it must be properly governed and protected for market creation.
According to him, NAMA believes that the bill provides an important opportunity to establish a modern and lasting legal framework for the Nigerian automotive industry. But it should not simply become a stricter regulatory law; must become an equally strong automotive industrialization law.
“Legislation must help Nigeria move: from SKD assembly to CKD manufacturing; from vehicle assembly to component integration; from import dependence to local value creation; and ultimately from a protected domestic market to a competitive African automotive production base.
“We look forward to working with the National Assembly, the Federal Government, NADDC, other regulatory agencies and all stakeholders to refine this bill into legislation that provides not only rules for the automotive industry, but also a credible path for its growth and industrial transformation,” Omagbitse emphasized.
The interactive session hosted by NADDC attracted the full range of industry players including: automakers, assemblers, component suppliers, industry associations and other stakeholders who reviewed the proposed legislation. The clean copy of the National Automobile Industry Bill, 2026 is expected to be ready before the end of the year.
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