FG Vehicle Rules Could Force Billions in Government Car Spending to Local Automakers
By Aboki Forex —
The Federal Government has tightened vehicle procurement rules for Ministries, Departments and Agencies, a move that could push billions of naira in government car spending towards local automakers. Procurement directors must now show compliance with local content requirements before buying vehicles.
Oluwatobi Ajayi, CEO and co-founder of Nord Automobile, described the development as "very good news" for the automotive industry. He spoke on the latest Drinks & Mics episode themed "Cars, Homes & Wahala: Why Is the Nigerian Dream So Expensive?"
Local automaker hails the directive
Ajayi said the directive could stop affected government agencies from buying vehicles not made in Nigeria. He called it a more serious approach to enforcing local content 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 clarified that the directive applies to Federal Government MDAs under the executive arm. It does not extend to other arms of government, such as the National Assembly.
How the BPP rules work
Under the BPP directive, automotive procurement by MDAs and other procuring entities must be processed only with evidence of a Letter or Certificate of "No Objection" from the bureau.
MDAs must compile and submit details of all vehicles in their vehicle pools from 2020 to date. The records must 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 must contain an itemised breakdown of automotive purchases, including compliance with local content requirements.
Failure to comply will lead to rejection of procurement approval requests and 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 and rising imports
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 with a written waiver from the BPP.
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 enforceability, consistency and long-term sustainability.
The push comes as Nigeria's passenger motor car imports keep rising. The country imported passenger motor cars worth N1.18 trillion in the first half of 2026, a 145.6% increase from N479.26 billion in the same period of 2025.
Passenger motor car imports rose from N552.34 billion in Q1 2026 to N624.75 billion in Q2, compared with N224.58 billion and N254.67 billion 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, compared with N1.36 trillion in H1 2025. Imports of parts and accessories declined by about 4.4% to N722.59 billion from N755.43 billion.
The figures come from the Q1 and Q2 2026 Foreign Trade Statistics reports released by the National Bureau of Statistics.
What it means
The directive could shift a share of government fleet spending to local assemblers such as Nord Automobile. With the passenger car import bill at N1.18 trillion in H1 2026, the money at stake is large. Whether the rules move that number depends on how strictly the BPP enforces them.