FG vehicle rules could force billions in government car spending to local automakers

The Federal Government’s tighter vehicle procurement rules for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) could give local automakers a fresh boost by requiring government entities to demonstrate compliance with local content requirements before purchasing vehicles.

Oluwatobi Ajayi, CEO and co-founder of Nord Automobile, described the development as “very good news” for the automotive industry during the latest Drinks & Mics episode themed “Cars, Homes & Wahala: Why Is the Nigerian Dream So Expensive?”

The directive requires procurement directors to submit details of vehicles purchased to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), with Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) used to verify and trace the vehicles to local production.

Local automaker hails new vehicle rules

Ajayi described the directive as a significant development for Nigeria’s automotive industry, saying it could prevent affected government agencies from purchasing vehicles that are not made in Nigeria. He said the directive represents a more serious approach to enforcing local-content requirements in government vehicle procurement.

• “Two or three weeks ago, in my industry, we got a very good news. There is a new policy, wherein the SGF, just signed a letter to all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and their procurement directors that effectively makes it criminal, that you go to jail, if you buy a car that is not made in Nigeria.
• “Every procurement director should submit a list of all the vehicles they but to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), which is what we call the chasis number, must be traded to local production. And they tend to be very serious this time around,” Ajayi said.

He also clarified that the directive applies to Federal Government MDAs under the executive arm of government and does not extend to other arms of government, such as the National Assembly.

BPP strengthens vehicle procurement

The BPP directive requires automotive procurement by MDAs and other procuring entities to be processed only with evidence of a Letter or Certificate of “No Objection” from the bureau.

It also directs MDAs and other procuring entities to compile and submit details of all vehicles in their respective vehicle pools from 2020 to date.

The records are expected to include the date of purchase, purchase price, brand, model, VIN, evidence of payment and the current status of each vehicle.

The information is to be submitted no later than three months after the end of each financial year through the Automobile Procurement Records Submission platform provided by the BPP.

Quarterly procurement reports submitted by MDAs must contain an itemised breakdown of automotive purchases, including information showing compliance with local content requirements.

Failure to comply will lead to the rejection of procurement approval requests and appropriate sanctions against defaulting accounting officers and procuring entities.

The directive takes immediate effect and forms part of the Federal Government’s broader push to increase the use of locally produced goods and services in public procurement.

Nigeria First Policy sets direction

President Bola Tinubu announced the Nigeria First Policy in May 2025, directing MDAs to stop procuring foreign goods and services where suitable local alternatives are available, except where a written waiver is obtained from the BPP.

• The policy was designed to stimulate domestic production, strengthen local content compliance and change government procurement practices.
• The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria called for annual local content benchmarks for government procurement in sectors including automobiles, textiles, pharmaceuticals and agro-processing in October 2025.
• Around the same period, the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise called for the Nigeria First Policy to be codified into law to improve its enforceability, consistency and long-term sustainability.

The push has also received support from industry groups, with calls for stronger local content requirements and enforcement of government procurement policies.

Nigeria’s vehicle imports hit N1.18 trillion

The push to restrict government purchases of imported vehicles comes as Nigeria’s passenger motor car imports continue to rise sharply.

• Nigeria imported passenger motor cars worth N1.18 trillion in the first half of 2026, representing a 145.6% increase from the N479.26 billion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
• Passenger motor car imports increased from N552.34 billion in Q1 2026 to N624.75 billion in Q2, compared with N224.58 billion and N254.67 billion respectively in the corresponding quarters of 2025.
• Overall, Nigeria imported N3.73 trillion worth of transport equipment and parts in H1 2026, up 44.2% from N2.59 trillion in H1 2025.

Other transport equipment accounted for N1.83 trillion in H1 2026, compared with N1.36 trillion in H1 2025.

Imports of parts and accessories declined by about 4.4% to N722.59 billion in H1 2026 from N755.43 billion in the same period of 2025.

The figures are based on analysis of the Q1 and Q2 2026 Foreign Trade Statistics reports released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).