The Federal Government has taken delivery of the first batch of electric vehicles promised to civil servants as part of the Tinubu administration’s drive to promote cleaner and cheaper transportation in the country.
Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, disclosed this on Wednesday after meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.
Osanipin, who briefed journalists after the meeting, said the delivery marked the beginning of a broader rollout of electric vehicles under the administration’s clean-energy transportation programme.
‘Today, you must have heard in the news that the first batch of the electric vehicle that the President promised civil servants, the first batch was delivered today, and they are all electric vehicle, and this is the beginning of more and more that will come’, he said.
The NADDC boss also disclosed that the government had provided electric vehicle-related infrastructure in about 16 universities as part of efforts to build the ecosystem required to support the transition to alternative-energy vehicles.
He explained that the impact of government policies on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and electric vehicles would become more pronounced as the necessary infrastructure expanded across the country.
According to him, policies promoting alternative-energy transportation require complementary investments in filling stations, mobile refilling units and gas production before their full benefits can be felt by Nigerians.
‘You can’t put a policy in place today, and you start having the immediate impact. For example, when you talk about CNG, you put in place that policy. You need filling station. You need mobile refill unit. You need production of gas, and these are where investment have been going to lately’, Osanipin said.
He disclosed that about 81 companies had now been licensed to retail gas, compared with about four previously, describing the increase as evidence of growing private-sector investment and progress in the CNG initiative.
‘As at the time I was discussing with the agency in charge of that, I was told that as at today they have licensed about 81 firms that are into retailing of gas. So, which means we are making progress in that regard.
‘When you realise that we have about four before, and now we have this. So gas are now more available in some states’, he said.
Osanipin said the expansion of CNG infrastructure was already translating into substantial savings for motorists and fleet operators, citing the case of a traveller whose fuel expenditure on a journey dropped from more than N200,000 to about N40,000 after using CNG.
He said the traveller was able to refill with gas in Kano, illustrating the increasing availability of CNG outside the major commercial centres.
According to him, the experience demonstrated the potential of the policy to substantially reduce transportation costs as more filling facilities become operational across the country.
‘So a lot of people are already benefiting from this policy, and more and more will come now that we are having more people, more firms going to it and investing into it’, he said.
The NADDC Director-General said fleet operators were among those already benefiting significantly from the cheaper alternative fuel.
He, however, expressed concern that some commercial operators benefiting from lower CNG costs had yet to pass the savings on to commuters through reduced fares.
Osanipin said ensuring that the benefits of cheaper energy translate into lower transportation costs for Nigerians would form part of the next phase of government’s intervention.
He explained that the immediate priority was to ensure sufficient infrastructure and availability of alternative fuels before attention shifts towards measures to ensure that savings enjoyed by operators are reflected in fares paid by commuters.
‘We have a lot that are already doing it; fleet operators are already benefiting this. So what we are pushing for again, because someone asked me that question, that I have seen a lot of people that are benefiting it, but they refuse to transfer the price to the masses.
‘So that is going to be the next stage. But we just want to make sure that all the infrastructure and things and everything is coming. Then we now see… enforcement of some of these policies’, he said.
Osanipin said his meeting with President Tinubu also afforded him the opportunity to brief the President on developments in the automotive sector, ongoing investments and the progress made on a draft legislation being developed for the industry.
He said the Council was working to strengthen the policy and regulatory environment necessary to attract investment and accelerate the development of Nigeria’s automotive industry.