House Urges FG to Regulate Importation of Foreign Textile Materials

•Pushes for revamp of comatose textile industry

•Senate set to pass 30% minimum value-addition bill on raw materials

Juliet Akoje and Oghenevwede Ohwovoriole in Abuja

The House of Representatives yesterday urged the federal government to regulate the importation of foreign textiles into the country to rejuvenate the production of local textile materials.

This emerged same day the Senate expressed its readiness to pass the 30 percent Minimum Value-Addition Bill on Raw Materials soon and transmit it to the House of Representatives for concurrence.

The resolution by the House followed the adoption of a motion on the ‘Need to Revamp the Nation’s Comatose Textile Industry,’ moved by Hon. Garba Ibrahim Muhammad at plenary.

The House also urged the Federal Ministry of Power to collaborate with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to provide necessary facilities, especially power supply, to local textile manufacturing companies to enhance quality outputs.

The lawmakers further urged the Federal Ministries of Finance, Industry, Trade and Investment and other related agencies to encourage local textiles by providing soft loans and easy access to credit facilities through the Bank of Industry.

Muhammad noted that the Nigerian textile industry, with over 180 mills in operation in the 60s and 80s, significantly impacted the manufacturing sector, employing nearly 450,000 people and generating 67 percent annual growth. This, he argued, made it the highest employer of labour.

He also noted that Nigeria possesses ample raw materials such as cotton and wool for textile production, which could boost local productivity and the economy.

“Revitalising the textile industry will create employment, reduce social issues, boost revenue, diversify the economy, and enhance socio-economic development in the country.

“The significant decline in the textile industry over the last two decades resulted in the layoff of thousands of workers from companies like Kaduna Textile, Kano Textile, Aba Textile, United Nigeria Textile, and First Spinners, among others,” he added.

The lawmaker raised concerns that the discovery of oil in Nigeria resulted in decreased cotton production, a crucial raw material for the textile industry, thereby significantly impacting the textile sector.

“Government policies such as higher taxation, expensive production costs and trade liberalisation leading to extensive importation of textile materials, have had a negative impact on the production of local textiles”

The House therefore mandated its Committees on Industry and Commerce to conduct Public Hearing with relevant stakeholders in textile industries to review challenges of moribund textile sector and report within four (4) weeks for further legislative action.

It also mandated its Committee on Legislative Compliance to ensure compliance.

Meanwhile, the Senate yesterday expressed its readiness to pass the 30 percent Minimum Value-Addition Bill on Raw Materials soon for onward transmission to the House of Representatives for concurrence.

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio gave the assurance at the opening ceremony of the inaugural Africa Raw Materials Summit 2025 in Abuja, with the theme, “Shaping the Future of Africa’s Resource Landscape.”

Akpabio, who was represented by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Science and Technology, Sen. Aminu Abbas said, “I can assure you that the 30 per cent value addition bill before the Senate will be passed this week and transmitted to the House Representatives for concurrence.”

He said the Senate had resolved to be proactive in addressing what he described as, “this structural imbalance.”

“This groundbreaking bill mandates that no raw material of Nigerian origin shall be exported without undergoing a minimum of 30 percent local value addition—whether through processing, refining, packaging, or industrial transformation.

“This legislation is not intended to stifle trade; rather, it is designed to ignite domestic enterprise, create jobs, attract capital, and build resilient value chains that benefit our people.

“We must reject the historic pattern in which Africa merely supplies inputs while others reap the benefits of innovation, branding, and global market control.

“It is my hope that this model will be replicated across African nations, with regional centres of excellence established to share data, technologies, and best practices in raw material development,” Akpabio added.

He used the opportunity to call on African countries to replicate the legislation in their countries to boost their economies.

The Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology, Chief Geoffrey Nnaji, speaking through the Minister of Transport, Sa’idu Alkali, said, “We are deploying digital tools, traceability infrastructure, and research-to-industry pathways to strengthen intra-African trade under AfCFTA. “

“This is how Africa moves from extraction to transformation—from potential to prosperity.

“Let this summit send a clear message: Africa will no longer export its future in raw form. Our minerals will power industries, our crops will feed global markets, and our youth will drive innovation,” he said.

On his part, the Minister of State for Industry, John Owen, noted that, “with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), I believe that a lot of opportunities are already being opened to see how we can do much more than we are currently doing, and the statistics in terms of export trade should be less in terms of exporting raw materials and more in terms of exporting finished goods.”