Saraki To Receive Report On Business Environment In Nigeria

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki will on Monday (February 29th) formally receive the Business Environment Legislative Review Report developed by a team of Legal Advisers to the ENABLE-DFID programme, led by Prof Paul Idornigie (SAN).

A statement from the Office of the Senate President in Abuja stated the report initiated by the Senate President was in fulfilment of the Legislative Agenda of the 8th National Assembly geared towards creating a business friendly environment in the country.

The statement added that: "Following the legislative agenda of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 8th National Assembly, and in consultation with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), the Nigerian Bar Association – Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) and other key private sector stakeholders; the Office of the Senate President initiated a review of the institutional, regulatory and legal instruments currently constraining and impeding business activity in Nigeria. 

"With the technical aid and support of ENABLE-DFID and GEMS 3 programmes, a team of experts conducted a business environment legislative review covering the entire raft of legal structures affecting businesses today. The underlying objective of the review is to provide a framework for the assessment and improvement of legislation and policy affecting businesses in Nigeria"‎, the statement added.

Prof. Paul Idornigie led the team of Legal Advisers that conducted the research of business environment acts and bills and developed the Business Environment Legislative Review Report.

The report is expected to propose priority legislative areas that will provide a solid foundation of evidence to set priorities for new and revised business environment legislation by the National Assembly.

“With the reform of key sectors of the economy, there is a critical need to facilitate an enabling environment for private sector participation. There are Bills pending before the National Assembly that are of priority importance to doing business and overall private sector development in Nigeria, especially in infrastructure delivery”‎, it stated.

Expected at the presentation which will take place at the National Assembly on Monday are the the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara; World Bank representatives; the Chairman of the NESG, Mr. Kyari Bukar, the Nigerian Bar Association - Section on Business Law  (NBA-SBL) representatives led by Asue Ighodalo; and private sector and media stakeholders.

Saraki Assures On Sustainable Economic Policies

Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has said that the 8th Senate will collaborate with the Executive to ensure that the policies and programmes of the present administration aimed at reviving the economy are sustained on a  long term basis.

Saraki according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, in Abuja, stated this  when he received the national executive of the Nigerian Mining and Geosciences Society (NMGS) led by its President, Professor Olugbenga Okunola.

He said the Senate is on a mission to ensure that the country harnesses her non-oil resources and achieve full diversification of the economy.

Saraki said: "For us in the 8th Senate we have said it that our focus is to continue to give support to those sectors of our economy that will provide employment, increase the earnings of government and the growth of the economy in general. 

"And if you are talking about the growth of the economy, you have to give  particular consideration to the mining sector. And what do we need to do to get that done? I want to assure you that the message I will like you to take away is that the 8th Senate is ready to give all the support in ensuring that we truly begin to harness the hitherto the unexplored and neglected potentials that we have. 

"We have been talking about these potentials for a long time. It is time to talk about realising the potentials and translating them to economic power. how to bring. That is our own vision and mission. 

"We have all seen the downside of being a mono-product economy. We are all suffering from it now. When you see what is happening to our revenues, our foreign exchange inflows and particularly what is happening to even the foreign exchange rate due to our over dependence on crude oil. 

"The projections that it is going to be down for a couple of years means that any serious minded country needs to look at the options available. And some of the things we are seeing now is because there is a lot of speculation out there. 

"A lot of the speculators believe that we don't have the political will to see through some of the policies and programmes aimed at diversifying the economy and that is why you see a lot of them are betting against the Naira. That is why you see all of a sudden, the Naira is rebounding because they are beginning to see that it appears that this government is committed on its policy.

"I want to assure you that we are committed. The political will is there. We are very determined to see that we diversify. All these things you are talking about are well known to a lot of us. The frustration has een that we have not been able to see it through. I want to assure you that this Senate is committed to ensure that we support the executive in sustaining these long term polices. This is important and that is where we must start from," he said.

Earlier, Professor Gbenga Okunola, said the Society visited the Senate President to among others appreciate what the 8th Senate has been doing. 

He said: "We have been talking about diversification of the nation's economy over the years....I think as a society, as professionals, this is what we have been clamouring for over the years that we are sitting on buried riches and that the government is now saying that they want to take this serious gladdens us. 

"That is why we are here to appreciate this government for what they are doing and we are ready to offer our professional help - we are not talking in terms of financial reward - but this is one thing we want to offer our country," he said.

The Nigerian Senate Commences 2016 Budget Reports Collation

The Nigerian Senate began the process of passing the 2016 Appropriation Bill today, the Bill which is scheduled for passage in March, as its Committee on Appropriation has commenced the collation of the 2016 Budget reports from the various sub-committees of the Chamber.

The collation was a fulfillment of the earlier promise made by the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Danjuma Goje.

Buhari Seeks Extension of 2015 Budget Implementation for FCT

President Muhammadu Buhari has sought the extension of implementation of the Budget of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to enable the FCT pay for pending critical to the FCT were still pending. 

In a letter sent to the Senate on Tuesday, President Buhari noted that the FCT administration only had seven months in 2015 for implementing its budget which was signed in May 2015.

Senate: FCT Too Dirty, Gives 21-Day Deadline for Cleanup

The Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory has give the Area Councils 21 days to clean up parks, markets and the entire FCT or face sanctions.

The Chairman of the Committee Sen. Dino Melaye (APC Kogi West) gave this directive when the committee met with chairmen of the six area councils in the FCT.

Senator Kabiru Marafa Shuns Senate Committee Probe

Senator Kabiru Marafa, representing Zamfara Central on Monday, failed to appear before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, to answer to allegations of misguided statements against the National Assembly.

The senator, was petitioned by two senators, Isah Misau (APC-Bauchi Central) and Matthew Urhoghide (PDP-Edo South) ovee comments in a national dailies that demeaned the reputation of the National Assembly.

Abang Dove: The Need for an Inland Container Terminal in Onitsha

Due to the dwindling economy, the Federal Government of Nigeria, the National Assembly, and many well-meaning Nigerians have suddenly come to a moment of self realization. We have reached that point in our lives where we are forced to consider where we got it wrong, how we got it wrong, and what we can do to make the cards that we have been dealt - in these dire economic circumstances - work in our favour.