The Federal Government is stepping up its push for electric mobility, with the Presidency calling for the expansion of private-sector electric vehicle projects across Nigeria.
The latest push came as PromiseLand Innovation unveiled 1,000 electric vehicles under its ProTaxi e-hailing platform in Abuja.
The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Transportation and Mobility, Prince Adetokunbo Ade-John, described the rollout as a practical contribution to the government’s efforts to modernise transportation.
Ade-John urged the company to take the initiative beyond Abuja, saying private investments could complement Federal Government programmes targeting cleaner and more efficient transportation.
The Tinubu administration had in March expanded the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas to include electric vehicles, creating the Presidential Initiative on Compressed Natural Gas and Electric Vehicles (Pi-CNG & EV), with a mandate covering EV deployment and charging infrastructure nationwide.
Ade-John said the government was pursuing the deployment of electric buses alongside CNG-powered vehicles, while encouraging local entrepreneurs to develop solutions for Nigeria’s transport challenges.
“We encourage PromiseLand Innovation to sustain this initiative and expand it to other parts of the country,” he said.
The presidential aide also disclosed plans to present the ProTaxi project to relevant Federal Government officials and agencies for consideration.
He commended the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Emmanuel Oloche, for putting personal resources into the project.
“If a single man can do this with his personal resources, we don’t need investors from outside. You are a son of the soil,” Ade-John said.
Oloche said ProTaxi was designed not only to provide affordable transportation but also to create economic opportunities for drivers and their families.
He said the company’s broader ambition was to use technology to help Nigerians move out of poverty while building a major African technology company.
“When we create opportunities for thousands of drivers, we are not watching families, but we are reshaping communities,” Oloche said.
The electric vehicle drive is coming alongside other Federal Government initiatives. In August, the government distributed 60 electric tricycles to commercial transport operators across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones under the Green Bond Project Initiative.
The Presidency has also announced plans for the rollout of 10,000 electric tricycles, initially targeted at the North-East, with a plan for other regional development commissions to replicate the initiative.
With the latest ProTaxi rollout, electric mobility is increasingly becoming part of Nigeria’s evolving transport landscape, as government and private operators seek alternatives to conventional petrol-powered vehicles.
