Pass Economy Related Bills, Ighodalo tells NASS
In his welcome address at the Nigerian Economic Summit, the Chairman of the NESG, Mr. Asue Ighodalo, said that the Organised Private Sector (OPS) operators were concerned that several Bills meant to stimulate the nation’s economy, by attracting private capital to areas hitherto operated as government monopolies, were yet to be passed by the National Assembly.
“We are concerned that the National Assembly is yet to hasten the passage of other NASSBER Bills, for example, the amended Companies and Allied Matters Act Bill, Nigerian Railway Bill, National Roads Funds Bill, Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Bill, Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Bill and the Arbitration and Conciliation Bill.
“We strongly urge the National Assembly, in the spirit of our partnership, to expeditiously pass these bills. We appreciate the immense work they have done” he said.
He commended the National Assembly for passing the National Transport Commission Bill to create an effective transport sector regulator, which is expected to help attract significant private capital to the transport sector.
The chairman appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to speedily assent to the Bill, adding, “We also expect an expeditious presidential assent to the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, as soon as the National Assembly resolves the few contentious issues raised by the Presidency.”
He noted that last year, the Nigerian economy started its recovery from the recession it experienced in 2015/2016 – the 1st in more than two decades; with positive, though tentative, output growth. We have seen 5 successive quarters of growth since March 2017 evidenced by the modest improvements in key economic indicators; cost of living, measured by headline inflation, declined steadily for 18 consecutive months, (although we notice a slightly upward blip in the past 2 months).