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Metropolitan Electric

Nigeria must move beyond policy announcements and urgently implement a coordinated six-point roadmap to achieve mass adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), Metropolitan Electric Limited has said.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Olugbenga Obadina, made the call recently in Lagos.
He said Nigeria had reached a critical stage in its transition to electric mobility, stressing that the major challenge was no longer the formulation of policies but their coordinated implementation across relevant government agencies.

According to him, Nigeria has already established several important foundations for EV adoption, including the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) 2023–2033, which targets a 30 per cent local EV production share 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 the reported reduction of EV import duty from five per cent to zero under the 2026 Fiscal Policy Measures.

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

However, Obadina warned that these measures would not automatically create a viable mass market unless government agencies work together to reduce the uncertainty and costs facing investors and operators.

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

He identified inconsistent tariffs, customs-related delays and demurrage costs as some of the factors capable of undermining investment in the sector.

According to him, investors require predictable regulations, long-term naira financing, clear charging permits and tariffs, as well as measurable local-content requirements.

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

To convert the growing momentum around electric mobility into mass adoption, Metropolitan Electric proposed a six-point framework it described as the “Nigeria EV Compact.”

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

The second is the creation of anchor demand through progressively higher EV procurement quotas for government fleets and public transportation.

The company also recommended financing “kilometres, not cars” through a naira-denominated green-mobility facility, credit guarantees and multi-year leasing arrangements.

It further called for charging infrastructure to be treated as regulated infrastructure, supported by standardised permits, defined service levels and transparent tariffs.

The fifth recommendation focuses on performance-based localisation, with incentives tied not simply to vehicle assembly but also to production, quality, job creation, component manufacturing, research and development and exports.

Finally, Metropolitan Electric urged government and industry stakeholders to strengthen consumer and investor confidence through technician certification, transparent warranty disclosure, battery-health standards and clear end-of-life regulations for batteries.

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

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

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

Instead, he urged policymakers to prioritise vehicles that record high daily mileage, including buses, logistics vehicles, institutional fleets and two- and three-wheelers.

He explained that their intensive utilisation could enable charging infrastructure and vehicle investments to generate returns more quickly.

Consequently, charging infrastructure should be planned around actual depots, routes and daily driving patterns rather than deployed without considering vehicle utilisation, he said.

The Metropolitan Electric CEO also cited the company’s operations as evidence that electric mobility can work in Nigeria when the wider ecosystem is properly coordinated.

Since 2023, the company has supplied, deployed and maintained more than 200 EVs, with another 150 units ordered. It has also deployed more than 6MW of charging infrastructure and operates in Lagos, Abuja, Abeokuta, Port Harcourt and Kaduna.

Obadina challenged policymakers, investors and journalists to assess Nigeria’s EV transition based on actual performance rather than policy announcements.

He urged stakeholders to monitor the number of EVs operating daily, cost per kilometre, charging uptime, warranty performance and the allocation of risks associated with batteries, financing and recycling.

“Count what operates, not what is announced,” he said.

According to him, Nigeria’s electric mobility future must ultimately be “engineered, assembled, financed, charged and maintained here.”

The Traffic NG
Metropolitan Electric
Afusat Adebayo
The Traffic NG

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