Conducting accountability audit of MDAs’ll attract local, foreign investors ― Osinbajo

The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has stated that conducting aggressive accountability audits of various Federal Government agencies will help attract more local and foreign investments in the country.

He said the audit which would soon commence, will help identify bureaucratic bottlenecks and remove them.

The VP spoke at the 5th-anniversary celebration of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), held at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.

According to him, he said the move is to improve the country’s business environment and economy.

He noted that in some of the FG agencies, the heads “commit to change, but down the line, the system either resists or is simply not well designed to function properly.”

In view of this, he said what must be done in the coming months, is for the FG to “work with the agencies to implement a more aggressive accountability audit.”

His words: “Going forward, there will be a more aggressive accountability audit of various Federal Government agencies, identifying bureaucratic bottlenecks and removing them in a renewed effort to further improve the country’s business environment and economy.

“This will, in turn, encourage more local and foreign investments, create more jobs and opportunities for Nigerians.

“Where we identify the specific bottlenecks in systems, possibly down to the particular desks where these problems arise; we may then come for agencies and officials who have failed or resisted change.”

The Vice President noted that while creating jobs was the government’s priority, the biggest job creator was the private sector, particularly small and medium enterprises.

“We must ensure that they are not hindered from doing business easily so they can produce the opportunities our nation needs,” he stated.

However, despite the challenges in some areas, the Vice President stated that since its inception, PEBEC has achieved the delivery of over 150 reforms and completed six National Action Plan (NAP).

“As a result, Nigeria has moved an aggregate of 39 places on the World Bank Doing Business index since 2016, and was twice named as one of the top 10 most improved economies in the world in the last three cycles. Nigeria was also named one of only two African countries to make this highly prestigious list in 2019.

“Similarly, the 2018 Subnational Doing Business report on Nigeria recorded unprecedented improvement, with 100% participation of States in the Right-of-Reply exercise.

“The World Economic Forum (WEF), in its 2018 Global Competitive Report, also recognized Nigeria’s business environment as one of the most entrepreneurial in the world, and highlighted Nigeria’s improved competitiveness in the enabling business environment,” he noted.

Earlier, the Special Adviser to President of Nigeria on Ease of Doing Business, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, noted that institutional reforms in the public sector were major factors in jump-starting and sustaining economic growth and development.

She argued that the current administration was the first to dedicate a stand-alone segment of a national development plan to such an intervention, under the competitive pillar of its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of 2017-2020.

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