By MELVIN KOFFA

Nigeria’s Electric-Car Dream Hits a Legislative Roadblock as EV Bill Stalls

NIGERIA’S electric-vehicle ambitions are advancing on two different tracks.

While the Federal Government is using executive policies to encourage cleaner transportation, the legislation expected to provide a lasting legal foundation for the sector remains trapped in the National Assembly.

Nine months after the Electric Vehicle Transition and Green Mobility Bill, 2025, passed its second reading in the Senate, the proposed law is still before the Senate Committee on Industry.

The delay exposes a growing contradiction in Nigeria’s green-mobility strategy.

Government policy is moving.

The legal framework is not.

A Bill Waiting for the Next Step

Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, representing Abia North, sponsored the bill, which passed second reading on 5 November 2025.

Lawmakers initially suggested that it could return for third reading within four weeks.

That deadline has since passed.

As of August 2026, the legislation remains under committee consideration. Consequently, many of the proposed incentives, obligations and regulatory structures have yet to acquire the certainty of law.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio had described the bill as forward-looking and consistent with the future of transportation and sustainability.

However, the difference between a legislative proposal and an enacted law is substantial.

Investors planning projects that could take years to recover their capital need more than policy announcements. They require regulatory certainty.

Government Moves Ahead Without the Law

Despite the legislative delay, the executive branch has continued to push electric mobility.

The Federal Government introduced import-duty and Value Added Tax exemptions for electric, CNG and LPG-powered vehicles, although hybrids remain subject to existing taxes.

Industry reports indicate that nearly 4,000 imported electric vehicles benefited from tax waivers during the first half of 2026.

The government has also pursued industrial partnerships.

In January, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment signed an agreement with South Korea’s Asian Economic Development Committee for an electric-vehicle assembly plant in Kano.

The proposed facility is projected to produce up to 300,000 vehicles annually.

Earlier, the Federal Executive Council approved ₦58 billion for 200 electric buses for public transportation.

Together, these measures demonstrate that Abuja is no longer treating electric mobility merely as a distant environmental aspiration.

The problem is that executive action can move quickly, while legislation often moves slowly.

An Ambitious Industrial Blueprint

The proposed EV bill attempts to address that gap.

Its provisions go beyond encouraging Nigerians to buy electric cars.

The legislation seeks to create an entire domestic industry.

Foreign automobile manufacturers entering the market would be required to partner with licensed Nigerian assemblers and establish assembly plants within three years.

The bill also proposes at least 30 per cent local sourcing of EV components by 2030.

Manufacturers, assemblers, importers, distributors and sellers would operate under licensing requirements.

Qualifying manufacturers and assemblers would face a minimum annual production threshold of 5,000 vehicles.

The proposal also contains incentives, including tax holidays, import-duty waivers, toll exemptions, road-tax relief and subsidies.

Charging infrastructure receives significant attention as well.

The proposed framework could require filling stations to provide EV charging facilities, helping address one of the biggest barriers to adoption.

Yet the legislation also contains heavy sanctions.

Unlicensed dealers could face fines of up to ₦500 million and confiscation of goods.

Foreign manufacturers violating local-content requirements could face penalties of up to ₦250 million per violation.

That combination of incentives and punishment has already generated debate.

The Market Is Moving, But Slowly

Nigeria’s EV market remains small compared with its enormous vehicle population.

The country is estimated to have more than 20,000 electric vehicles on its roads.

That figure is significant as an emerging market indicator, but it remains modest relative to the scale of Nigeria’s transportation needs.

Still, economic pressures are changing the calculation.

Petrol prices have risen sharply since the removal of fuel subsidy.

For motorists and commercial operators, fuel economy is no longer simply an environmental issue. It is increasingly a business issue.

An electric vehicle travelling about 200 kilometres may require roughly $3 worth of electricity, compared with more than $15 in petrol costs for a similar distance, according to industry estimates.

That difference could become a powerful incentive.

However, cheap energy on paper does not automatically translate into practical savings.

Nigeria still struggles with unreliable electricity supply.

Charging stations remain inadequate.

Electric vehicles remain expensive for many consumers.

Public awareness is also limited.

These obstacles mean that demand cannot be created simply by passing legislation.

The Infrastructure Problem

Charging infrastructure may ultimately determine whether Nigeria’s EV transition becomes a genuine transportation revolution or remains a niche market.

An electric vehicle is only as useful as the infrastructure supporting it.

Motorists need confidence that they can charge their vehicles at home, at work, along highways and in commercial centres.

Businesses need reliable electricity.

Investors need predictable demand.

Manufacturers need a sufficiently large market to justify local assembly.

Without these conditions, even generous tax incentives may struggle to transform consumer behaviour.

The problem extends beyond charging.

Nigeria’s automotive manufacturing base itself remains weak.

Although more than 60 vehicle manufacturers are licensed to operate in the country, only a limited number are believed to be actively producing vehicles at scale.

Building an EV industry on top of such a fragile industrial foundation will require more than enthusiasm.

It will require sustained investment in electricity, skills, component manufacturing, research and development, logistics and consumer financing.

Industry Divided Over the Pace

Industry stakeholders broadly support electric mobility, but they disagree over how quickly Nigeria should impose ambitious targets.

Sam Faleye of SAGLEV argues that Nigeria cannot afford another prolonged period of policy uncertainty.

His position reflects the frustration of an industry that sees economic opportunities emerging but fears that bureaucratic delays could allow them to pass elsewhere.

Other stakeholders are more cautious.

Stanley Awelewa of Tim International Group has questioned whether a 30 per cent local-content target by 2030 is achievable given existing infrastructure and workforce limitations.

He favours a longer transition period that would allow technology transfer and local skills to develop.

Dapo Adesina of the Electric Mobility Promoters Association of Nigeria has called for clearer short-, medium- and long-term targets.

He has also raised concerns about the extent of industry consultation during the drafting process.

These disagreements reveal the central policy challenge.

Nigeria must move quickly enough to capture the emerging EV market without setting targets that its industrial base cannot realistically achieve.

Incentives Versus Punishment

Another unresolved question concerns the structure of regulation.

Investors need incentives.

They also need predictable rules.

But excessive penalties can create a different problem.

Some industry participants fear that fines running into hundreds of millions of naira could discourage foreign companies from entering a market that still has considerable infrastructure and demand risks.

There is also concern that multiple agencies could end up regulating different aspects of the same industry.

Instead of simplifying the market, regulation could become another layer of bureaucracy.

That would undermine one of the bill’s principal objectives: creating certainty.

What Happens If the Law Stays in Limbo?

The central issue is therefore not whether Nigeria wants electric vehicles.

It clearly does.

The more difficult question is whether the country can create the industrial and regulatory conditions required to sustain the transition.

Executive policies can provide immediate incentives.

They can reduce taxes.

They can procure buses.

They can facilitate investment agreements.

However, investors planning factories, charging networks and component-manufacturing facilities often think in decades rather than months.

They need to know whether today’s incentives will survive tomorrow’s policy changes.

That is where legislation matters.

Until the bill completes its legislative journey and receives presidential assent, Nigeria’s EV framework remains vulnerable to policy shifts and administrative changes.

The Real Test Is Implementation

Passing the bill, however, would not automatically solve Nigeria’s electric-mobility problems.

It would only establish the framework.

The harder work would begin afterwards.

Government would have to improve electricity supply and charging infrastructure.

Financial institutions would need to develop consumer and commercial financing products.

Training institutions would have to produce technicians capable of servicing increasingly sophisticated vehicles.

Manufacturers would need access to components and technology.

Regulators would have to coordinate rather than compete.

And consumers would need convincing that electric vehicles are practical, affordable and reliable.

Nigeria therefore faces a double challenge.

It must complete the legal framework while simultaneously building the ecosystem that makes the framework meaningful.

A Revolution Still Waiting for Traction

Nigeria’s EV transition is no longer purely theoretical.

Vehicles are arriving.

Conversion centres are expanding.

Tax incentives are being deployed.

Investment proposals are emerging.

Government-backed electric buses are on the agenda.

Yet the country’s most comprehensive attempt to legislate the transition remains stuck in the parliamentary process.

That contradiction captures Nigeria’s electric-mobility dilemma.

The ambition is large.

The market opportunity is real.

The economic case is becoming stronger.

But infrastructure remains weak, industrial capacity is limited and legislation is moving slower than executive policy.

Nigeria may therefore be approaching an important transportation crossroads.

It can allow the EV transition to remain a collection of government announcements and isolated investments.

Or it can build the legal, industrial and infrastructure foundation required to turn those announcements into a functioning national mobility system.

For now, the electric future is visible.

It simply has not arrived everywhere.