**Says “Nigeria Ready for Business, Global Competition”
By Dipo Olowookere
Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, has disclosed that efforts were being made by the National Assembly (NASS), especially the Senate, to reform some obsolete laws dragging the growth of the Nigerian economy backward.
Mr Saraki, speaking in Lagos last Sunday at the 11th Annual Business Law Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Section on Business Law, said this move was necessary to prepare the country’s economy for global market.
He noted that at the resumption of the 8th NASS, which clocked two this month, the state of the Nigerian economy was “worrisome” with an estimated $900 billion infrastructure deficit, crude oil price down to around $50 from over $140 and an economy with over 13 percent unemployment.
According to him, “We were confronted also with the need to stop restiveness, secure our peoples welfare, provide more opportunity for our youths on the street and raise their standard of living” within the “context of the shrinking economy struggling.”
The Senate President pointed out that, “As a forward-thinking legislature, we knew that we had to do something to ameliorate the challenge” and it was “on this background that the Senate then decided to frame for herself a legislative agenda with the overarching objective to use legal reform as an enabler for modernizing the Nigerian economy for greater competitiveness and attractiveness for investment.”
He told the gathering that, “Today, working together with the NESG, NBA and the ENABLE DFID Program and other partners under NASSBER, I am happy to report that the National Assembly is making steady progress towards a methodically legal reformation of the obsolete market laws we have.”
This, he said, “is already signalling to the world that Nigeria is ready for business and global competition.”
“Our policy drive is simple; to create jobs and enable SMEs for growth. The focus has significantly been on infrastructure mobilisation, access to capital and credit and the reduction in the cost of doing business to encourage investment,” Mr Saraki remarked.
He stated further that, “By the end of the second session of the 8th Assembly, we have successfully passed the following bills aimed at creating a modern Nigerian business environment including; The Electronic Transaction bill 2015, Bankruptcy and Insolvency bill 2015, the Credit Reporting Bill, The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Bill, the Independent Warehouse Regulatory Agency Bill and the Secure Transactions in Movable Assets Bill.”
“The Companies and Allied Matters (Act) (CAMA) (Amendment) Bill and the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) (Amendment) Bill are today undergoing committee consideration.
“It is expected that with the passage of these bills together with others we will have a new Nigeria business regulatory environment that is pro innovation and business growth,” the Senate President said.
Recently, the Senate invited stakeholders in the business and financial world to a meeting in Abuja, where the issue of high interest rate charged by banks in the country was discussed.
Adedapo Adesanya