Abuja Bureau ChiefThe federal government is determined to eliminate all impediments to doing business in the country, Vice president Yemi Osinbajo, has said
He spoke while commissioning the Bankers’ House of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), last week.
He stated: “We understand what the challenges are and have continued to meet them head-on. We also understand that the realization of our country’s potential, at this crucial moment, will require the careful choreography of government policies that remove every impediment in the way of those determined to pursue their dreams and build businesses.
“This is why in the past six years we have aggressively pursued, under the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), the creation of an environment that allows Nigerian businesses, at every level, operate without the bottlenecks and drawbacks that have come to characterize their interface with agencies and regulators.
“Building on the progress of these reforms and aggregating lessons from some of the setbacks in its implementation, we doubled down on PEBEC on the 7th of February with the 7th 60-day National Action Plan (NAP 7.0) on the Ease of Doing Business, which is programmed to run until the 7th of April 2022.”
Osinbajo added that the administration would consolidate on the achievements in removal of regulatory constraints around agro-exports, driving electronic filing of taxes and working closely with the States to make their own business environments friendlier.
Earlier in his address, the President of the Chattered Institute of Bankers (CIBN) Dr. Bayo Olugbemi, said that the edifice was a long dream come true.
According to him, “When the seat of Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria moved to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja in 1991, the Institute became desirous of establishing its presence at the FCT.
“Since then, several attempts were made at acquiring land or landed properties in the FCT but the efforts were frustrated by disputes on the various properties especially those statutorily allocated to the Institute by government.”
The CIBN president said however, that the organization was not discouraged by the challenges, but doggedly forged ahead in its quest for a presence in the FCT, until the building was eventually completed.
Olugbemi said that the institute as the conscience of the industry has continued to foster the observance of ethics and professionalism among practitioners in the banking industry.
His words, “We will not leave any stone unturned towards ensuring that all banks and bankers imbibe and abide by the expected ethical standards of the profession.
“The protection of Consumers of Banking Products and Services is very important to us, this we promise to keep in focus continually. We have worked very closely with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bankers Committee on the implementation of the Competency Framework, ensuring that fit and proper persons occupy various positions in the banking industry.”
Vanguard