Nigeria’s Auto Reforms: The Battle To Reclaim An Abandoned Industry
By DAVID JOHN-FLUKE
The Reform Agenda Nigeria Has Always Needed
A Sector Interrupted, Not Irrelevant
NIGERIA’S automotive industry is confronting a transition moment as disruptive as independence itself — but this time, the battle is industrial, not territorial. With global mobility rapidly pivoting toward EVs, CNG and low-carbon systems, Nigeria is scrambling to avoid becoming the last stop for petrol-based automotive relics. The NADDC admits the industry did not collapse for lack of potential, but for lack of protection, continuity and enforcement.
Forensic probes into policy archives show a recurring pattern: Nigeria announces reforms, fails to enforce them, and returns to imports. Meanwhile, the Sahel supplies terror networks with mobility advantages, while Nigeria imports cars it cannot recycle, regulate or repair sustainably. The result is a sector that was not beaten by competition, but by inconsistency.
End-of-Life Vehicles: Nigeria’s Roadside Museum
The proposed ELV policy exposes Nigeria’s most visible failure — the absence of a vehicle retirement and recycling system. NADDC DG Joseph Osanipin explains that in organised economies, disposal fees are paid upfront at registration, long before cars reach scrap status. Nigeria’s lack of this framework has turned highways and public spaces into informal junkyards, creating environmental and safety hazards.
According to Osanipin, over 85% of ELV components are recyclable, and 85% of a vehicle’s total mass can re-enter the parts value chain. But investigators tracking Nigeria’s scrap economy ask: if 85% is recyclable, why are 100% of abandoned vehicles unrecovered? The problem, they find, is not recyclability — it is recoverability, infrastructure, and regulation.
Used Vehicle Testing: Importers Now the Gatekeepers
Nigeria plans to enforce pre-export testing of used vehicles from 2026. This shifts responsibility from buyers to importers. The reform is aimed at blocking end-of-life vehicles being smuggled into Nigeria as “fairly used.” But an investigative assessment of port entry rules shows a looming risk: Nigeria wants exporters to test vehicles abroad, but has no harmonised system to verify test credibility at home.
Delta State may have cleared maternity bills to begin 2026 — but Nigeria has yet to clear its auto sector bills from 2025.
