FG inspects electric vehicles assembly plant in Borno. Photograph credit: Isah Ojo
The Federal Government on Thursday inspected the progress of the ongoing assembly of 10,000 electric vehicles meant for distribution to the six North-East states in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
Addressing newsmen shortly after inspecting the project, the Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, said when completed, the electric vehicles, comprising buses, tricycles and taxis, with charging infrastructure, would serve people in rural communities and urban areas across the region.
He said, “We have visited the e-vehicles assembly plant, under the management of the North-East Development Commission. These are projects approved by the Federal Executive Council.
“From what we have seen today, I can say that I am very much impressed because nearly all the 10,000 e-vehicles and tricycles are on the ground. They are already assembling them.
“We have also seen a number of e-taxis and buses. We are very much impressed. For me, I think we are not disappointed, and I am sure President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will also be very happy to see that this project has actually seen the light of day.”
According to him, the project would create job opportunities for youths during and after its unveiling across the North-East region.
“I have been told that all those e-vehicles are going to all the six states in the North-East and by the time they get there, apart from the fact that it will help to improve the movement of people, it will also create jobs.
“Take a look at the assembling process. Even before the commissioning, jobs have been created. The vehicles are being assembled by our people.
“When I asked the Director of Operations, he said before they complete the 10,000 target, at least, we must have catered for not less than 100,000 persons who will get jobs in the assembling process. This is the transformation that this administration is talking about,” he stated.
Momoh said, in addition to the vehicles, other rural road projects inspected by the ministry would serve a complementary purpose.
“The e-vehicles and the road we inspected are interlinked. Most of the tricycles that we saw today are like minibuses; you can use them to carry both passengers and agricultural produce.
“Let me say it in clear terms that from the very first project we visited, which is the Ngwom/Kushebe/Gadamari axis, to Gongulong, we have seen tremendous improvement on that road corridor,” the minister emphasised.
He, however, urged the leadership of the North-East Development Commission to ensure that rural dwellers were not exempted from the e-vehicle distribution chain when completed.
“I am using this opportunity to appeal to the Managing Director of NEDC that in distribution, he should make sure that in the corridor of the new roads, the people there should be catered for because they need these machines to be able to evacuate their products from their area to the city centre,” he said.
Following the minister’s visit to the ongoing construction of the headquarters of the North-East Development Commission in Maiduguri, he expressed satisfaction with the pace of work, assuring that it would be completed in the next 18 to 24 months.
He said, “And here we are today, the office of the headquarters of the North-East Development Commission. When we were here last year, I was just at the basement level. Today, the basement is completed and one section of the building is already going on.
“The contractors have assured us that, plus or minus, with adequate flow of funds, in the next 18 to 24 months, this project will see the light of day.
The minister commended the North-East Development Commission for its commitment to delivering on its mandate of rebuilding the region after more than a decade of insurgency.
“In all, I want to commend the management and the board of the NEDC for what they have done so far. Now that we are already making progress, we may need to identify other areas where they think we can make more impact because that is what the administration of Mr President is all about. His priority is connecting villages with roads,” he noted.
