▪︎Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Special Adviser to the President on PEBEC
The Presidential Business Enabling Environment Council (PEBEC) has scored the Bank of Industry (BoI), Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) low in business facilitation for the first half of 2024.
In the report, presented by Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Special Adviser to the President on PEBEC, on Tuesday, in Abuja, said that the top five performing MDAs during the period were the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) scored (80.1%), followed by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) at (78.2%), and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) ranking third with (74.8%).
The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Nigeria Customs Services (NCS) secured the fourth and fifth positions with (73.9%) and (73.2%), respectively.
She added that the MDA’s overall performance score is based on Efficiency and Transparency measures, with a 70% to 30% ratio, respectively.
Dr Oduwole said that the three agencies are among 11 agencies who could not score up to 50 per cent in business facilitation as enshrined by the Business Facilitation Act 2022.
The Business Facilitation Act (BFA 2022) says all MDAs must provide comprehensive information about its charges, timelines, terms, and prerequisites for obtaining permits, licenses, and approvals adding that the information should be readily available in their physical facilities, on official websites and through service portals.
It noted that while NEPZA scored (48.3%), Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission NUPRC (46.9%), Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (34.7%) Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (30.1%) and Bureau for Public Procurement (24.1%).
Others include Bank of Industry (23.7%), Joint Tax Board (23.1%), SERVICOM (15.6%) National Sugar Development Council (15.3%), Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (13.9%) and the least being Trademark Registry (9.6%).
“The Efficiency scale measures MDAs on adherence to service level agreements (SLAs), costs and procedures, one government directive, and default approval while Transparency is assessed based on the publishing of standardized procedures, timeliness, service fee and customer service contact details on the MDA’s website and digital media channels,” said Dr Jumoke.