Twelve Nigerian universities have been selected to design and produce electric shuttle buses.

The Director General of the Nigerian Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, Mr. Oluwemimo Osanipin who disclosed this during a stakeholders engagement in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, on Wednesday, said two universities from the six geopolitical zones made up the team.

“We have started an initiative where we have gathered twelve universities, two from each geopolitical zone, they are designing what we call the university shuttle bus that is going to be electric 100%.

“It is going to be designed in Nigeria; most of the parts are going to be sourced locally. So, they are on it, when they are done, we will come together again with assemblers, auto-vehicle manufacturers and with some companies that can finance the project like the Bank of Industry and other financial institutions. Then we will be able the produce these vehicles,” he said.

Osanipin urged stakeholders in the industry to embrace regulation of the sector to ensure safety and environmental soundness of vehicles in the country.

In his remarks, the National President of Automotive Dealers of Nigeria, Engr Ajibola Adedoyin, listed the gains of the regulatory framework to include security and increased revenue.

Adedoyin tasked the government on finetuning the policy to promote affordability and accessibility.

He said, “The nation stands to gain a lot, we feel it’s wrong for anybody to import a vehicle into the country without going through a registered dealer so that in case of anything, it could be traced.

“Even in the area of security, it matters a lot because most of the atrocities are committed with vehicles. So apart from revenue lost and making work easier for the industry and government, it still gives room for a large percentage of security threats to be curtailed.

“Also, the government has to finetune the policy to make vehicles affordable and accessible.”