Metropolitan Electric urges coordinated action to drive mass EV adoption

Nigeria must urgently move beyond policy announcements and establish a coordinated implementation framework capable of transforming growing interest in electric vehicles into widespread adoption, Metropolitan Electric Limited has said.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Olugbenga Obadina, made the call during his presentation at the 3rd Nigeria Auto Industry Summit organised by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association (NAJA) in collaboration with the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) in Lagos.

Obadina said Nigeria had reached a critical stage in its transition to electric mobility, arguing that the country’s immediate challenge was no longer the absence of policies but the lack of coordinated implementation across government institutions.

He said several important policy foundations for electric vehicle (EV) adoption were already in place, including the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) 2023–2033, which targets a 30 per cent share of local EV production and 40 per cent local content.

He also pointed to the zero-rating of VAT on EVs and semi-knocked-down assembly parts under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 and a reported reduction of EV import duty from five per cent to zero under the 2026 Fiscal Policy Measures.

Other government initiatives, he noted, cover areas including EV procurement, charging infrastructure, technical standards, battery recycling and skills development.

However, Obadina warned that the measures would not automatically create a viable mass market unless government agencies coordinate their policies and reduce the uncertainty and costs faced by investors and operators.

“The policy pieces are largely in place. What is needed now is to connect them, with coordination and execution across agencies,” he said.

According to Obadina, inconsistent tariffs, customs delays and demurrage charges could discourage investment despite the government’s policy incentives.

READ ALSO: NAJA auto summit rallies industry leaders behind Nigeria’s clean mobility vision

He said investors required predictable regulations, long-term naira-denominated financing, clearly defined charging permits and tariffs, as well as measurable local-content requirements.

“Investors price execution certainty, not policy intention,” he said.

To address these challenges, Metropolitan Electric proposed a six-point framework it called the “Nigeria EV Compact”, designed to accelerate adoption while building a sustainable domestic electric mobility industry.

The first recommendation is the development of a stable 10-year EV roadmap under a single coordinating body with sufficient authority to align the activities of relevant government agencies.

Second, the company proposed creating anchor demand through progressively increasing EV procurement quotas for government fleets and public transportation systems.

The third recommendation focuses on financing. Rather than concentrating solely on vehicle purchases, Metropolitan Electric urged the government to “finance kilometres, not cars” through a naira-denominated green mobility facility, credit guarantees and multi-year leasing arrangements.

The company also called for charging infrastructure to be treated as regulated infrastructure, with standardised permits, defined service levels and transparent tariffs.

Its fifth recommendation is performance-based localisation, under which incentives would be linked not simply to vehicle assembly but also to production volumes, quality, employment, component manufacturing, research and development and exports.

Finally, Metropolitan Electric urged stakeholders to strengthen consumer and investor confidence through technician certification, transparent warranty requirements, battery-health standards and clear rules governing battery disposal and end-of-life management.

Obadina said the objective should not be to maintain the EV industry through permanent subsidies, but to establish a commercially viable ecosystem capable of attracting financing, supporting local manufacturing and eventually competing without extraordinary government support.

READ ALSO: NAJA auto summit set for July 30, spotlight on Nigeria’s EV, CNG future

“The objective is not permanent subsidy. It is a bankable market that scales, localises and eventually competes,” he said.

Obadina also advised Nigeria against attempting to replicate the private-car-led electric vehicle transition experienced in wealthier economies.

Instead, he recommended prioritising vehicles that accumulate high daily mileage, including buses, logistics vehicles, institutional fleets and two- and three-wheelers.

He argued that such vehicles could provide a more commercially viable starting point because their intensive use would allow operators to recover investments in vehicles and charging infrastructure more quickly.

According to him, charging stations should be planned around actual depots, transport routes and daily driving patterns rather than deployed without considering how frequently vehicles will use them.

Obadina pointed to Metropolitan Electric’s operations as evidence that electric mobility can function in Nigeria when the supporting ecosystem is properly coordinated.

He said the company had, since 2023, supplied, deployed and maintained more than 200 electric vehicles, with another 150 units ordered.

The company has also deployed more than 6MW of charging infrastructure and currently operates in Lagos, Abuja, Abeokuta, Port Harcourt and Kaduna.

Obadina urged policymakers, investors and journalists to assess the progress of Nigeria’s EV transition using measurable performance indicators rather than policy announcements.

He identified the number of EVs operating daily, cost per kilometre, charging uptime, warranty performance and the allocation of risks associated with batteries, financing and recycling as key indicators of whether the sector is genuinely developing.