The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has launched a digital registration drive to formalise Nigeria’s automotive dealership sector.

The initiative, unveiled during a sensitisation workshop for South-West stakeholders in Lagos, is expected to create a central database of vehicle dealers, improve regulatory oversight and strengthen consumer confidence in the country’s automotive market.

Director-General of NADDC, Oluwemimo Osanipin, said the Dealership Registration Portal, developed under the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP 2023–2033), is designed to address longstanding challenges arising from the fragmented nature of the dealership business.

According to him, the platform would enable the government to maintain accurate records of dealerships, improve vehicle verification, strengthen regulatory compliance, enhance market monitoring, and connect dealers with manufacturers, financial institutions, and government agencies.

Osanipin explained that the portal should not be viewed as an additional regulatory burden, but as a business development tool capable of improving dealers’ access to financing, increasing transparency and supporting evidence-based policymaking.

He said the initiative would also improve the ease of doing business, attract investment into the automotive sector and position Nigeria’s automotive industry to compete globally.

In his comment, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Industry, Enitan Badru, represented by the committee’s Clerk, Usman Ibrahim, described the portal as a critical step towards improving planning and policy implementation in the automotive sector.

He noted that formalising dealership operations would strengthen data collection, enhance regulatory oversight, promote industrialisation, create jobs, and boost investor confidence, and assured that the National Assembly would continue to support policies that deepen the development of the automotive industry.

The President of the Association of Motor Dealers of Nigeria (AMDON), Ajibola Adedoyin, said the registration portal would help distinguish genuine dealers from illegal operators, improve consumer trust and expand access to government interventions and financing opportunities.

He pledged the association’s support in mobilising members across the country to register on the platform.

Analysts in the sector have, in the past few years, said that the absence of a comprehensive national database of vehicle dealerships has made it difficult for regulators to monitor the sector, protect consumers and accurately measure the industry’s contribution to the economy.

The Lagos workshop featured technical demonstrations and interactive sessions to guide participants through the registration process and explain the benefits of joining the national dealership database.