The Nigerian Senate Committee on Industry and the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) have commended Kojo Motors for its investment in local automobile assembly and natural gas technology.
The commendation came during an oversight visit led by Francis Fadahunsi, chairman of the senate committee and Joseph Oluwemimo Osanipin, director general of the NADDC to the company’s ongoing multibillion naira assembly and gas facility plant, Umunya along the Onitsha–Enugu expressway in Anambra State.
The visit was aimed at evaluating progress in the implementation of Nigeria’s automotive policy and the growth of indigenous auto manufacturing capacity and how best the federal government can assist indigenous auto assemblers.
Ikenna Oguegbu, chairman and CEO of Kojo Motors, expressed delight over the lawmakers’ visit, describing it as a morale booster for local investors like him that are strongly committed to strengthening Nigeria’s industrial base.
Oguegbu said that the Kojo auto assembly plant resonates with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu administration.
During the facility tour, the team were given an overview and blueprint project. They were also taken round for inspection of the various OMAA and Yutong model of vehicles that run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as well fuel and hybrid technology which enables vehicles to run on cleaner and cheaper fuel alternatives.
Speaking during the visit, the director-general of NADDC lauded Kojo Motors for aligning with the federal government’s National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) and for its investment in gas-powered mobility.
“Kojo Motors has demonstrated that local assemblers can play a vital role in Nigeria’s journey toward sustainable industrialisation.
“Their work here proves that innovation and local production can go hand-in-hand,” Osanipin said.
The senate committee chairman also lauded the untiring entrepreneurial spirit of Kojo chairman describing him as a model for indigenous industrial development.
Fadahunsi emphasised that the national assembly would continue to support policies that encourage local manufacturing and cleaner energy adoption in transportation.
“We are impressed by what we’ve seen. Kojo Motors represents the kind of progress and private-sector drive that can redefine Nigeria’s industrial future. This is what we want to see replicated across all states,” he said.
Kojo Motors’ founder said that the huge multibillion-naira project re-affirms the company’s commitment to expanding local capacity and job creation through technology-driven assembly operations with other positive business spin off effects within and around the vicinity.
He noted that the firm’s gas facility upon completion will not only support Nigeria’s energy transition, but will also offer consumers an affordable and eco-friendly transportation alternative.
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