Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, on Tuesday, test-drove the first locally-assembled electric car, Hyundai Kona.
The vehicle, a product of Stallion Motors, was first launched in November 2020 by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos.
Jelani Aliyu, director-general of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), had, in February 2021, unveiled the vehicle in Abuja.
On Tuesday, Osinbajo drove the car during an exhibition tour of made-in-Nigeria products at the opening ceremony of a five-day Nigeria@60 Expo, held at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
At the event, which was organised by the inter-ministerial committee on Nigeria@60, in collaboration with Business Visa and Training Company Limited, Osinbajo said he was impressed with the innovation and is hopeful of a bright future for Nigeria.
“A very good drive. Fantastic! It just shows what is possible. I am glad to see that this is an assembled-in-Nigeria electric car,” he said.
“You can literally charge it anywhere. I think it is a very fantastic innovation, fantastic product, and I can tell because I drove it.”
Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation, said the event was aimed at showcasing what Nigeria can produce with local raw materials.
“To complement the efforts of the federal government at ensuring that we produce what we eat and eat what we produce, in this context, we are to produce what we use and use what we produce,” Mustapha said.
In a goodwill message, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, director-general, World Trade Organisation (WTO), commended the organisers for their efforts to showcase the growth of Nigeria’s micro, small and medium enterprises.
