The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has stepped up efforts to overhaul the regulatory framework governing vehicle manufacturing in Nigeria. The agency met with various ministries, departments, and agencies in Abuja on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, to deliberate on the draft National Automotive Industry Bill, 2026.
According to a report by The Economic Times, the proposed legislation is designed to repeal the existing National Automotive Design and Development Council Act of 2014. In its place, the draft law creates the National Automotive Development Commission, granting the new body wider authority over regulation, enforcement, and industry oversight.
NADDC Director-General Otunba Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin stated during the session that the draft law serves as a strategic intervention to make the local vehicle sector self-sustaining. He pointed out that turning the council into a commission would boost institutional capacity, while also focusing on component manufacturing, local content, and green mobility.
Osanipin revealed that feedback gathered during a prior engagement with private sector players in Lagos about six weeks earlier has already been included in the current draft. He urged public officials at the meeting to resolve regulatory conflicts and eliminate duplicate responsibilities across government organs.
Also contributing to the discussions, Hon. Enitan Dolapo Badru, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Industry, observed that rapid changes in global vehicle technology and commerce make the 2014 law outdated. He cautioned, however, that the new commission must avoid jurisdictional friction with bodies such as the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Nigeria Customs Service, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission.
Badru also stressed that all planned tax incentives and domestic manufacturing benchmarks must comply with international trade rules. The legal aspects of the bill were presented at the forum by Mr Gboyega Oyewale, SAN.
The National Assembly has promised to subject the bill to comprehensive legislative review and public hearings. The recommendations gathered from this latest consultative forum will be used to update the draft document before it is formally sent to lawmakers for passage.
