By Adedapo Adesanya
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), Ms Yewande Sadiku, has said the commission in the last five years performed beyond expectation just as it was more accountable to Nigerians than at any other period as reflected in its publishing of quarterly reports and regular investment announcements.
Ms Sadiku disclosed this while featuring on the Arise TV Xchange program, where she stated that her administration had laid down the foundation of investment promotion in Nigeria which she expects will be sustained.
She stressed that the NIPC under her watch entrenched transparency in the pioneer status incentive process for the country.
The outgoing NIPC chief said the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) ensured public disclosure of financial, legal procurement and operational information.
In terms of revenue generation, she said the internally generated revenue of the NIPC increased from N296 million in 2016 to N3 billion in 2020.
The actual IGR realized in the country within the period 2016 to the first half of 2021 was a total of N11.9 billion, while N5.8 billion (49 per cent of the total IGR) has been paid by the NIPC to the consolidated revenue fund of the federation.
Speaking on reforms, she highlighted that the NIPC had reviewed the country’s bilateral investment treaties to focus on responsible, inclusive, balanced and sustainable investments.
She also added that the NIPC encouraged proactive subnational investment promotion across the 36 states of the Federation.
Speaking further, she observed that there were significant improvements in the NIPC, in the following areas: capacity building for NIPC staff which improved significantly; leveraging technology to improve the accessibility to NIPC and its activities; and engaging quality experts as consultants in achieving key investment deals.
She noted that the NIPC serves the public good and should not be regarded as a revenue-generating agency.
Ms Sadiku will be stepping down as Executive Secretary/CEO of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC) later this month and has been hailed for her reforms and advocacy for collaboration between MDAs to attract investments in Nigeria.
Her tenure was recently faced with an alleged scandal as she was said to have been invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on August 9, 2021, over issues that have been investigated by other anti-corruption agencies, none of whom has so far indicated that she has any case to answer.
