In line with its continuous commitment to improving the business environment in Nigeria through legislative interventions, the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has sponsored the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill otherwise known as the “Omnibus Bill”.
The Bill which has been approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for transmission to the National Assembly is expected to amend 23 business-related laws in Nigeria.
The Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, Dr Jumoke Oduwole in a statement explained that the Omnibus Bill is aimed at amending specific laws relating to ease of doing business which will then be made into single legislation to act as a catalyst for legislative reform of the Nigerian business climate.
According to her, the overall benefits of the Bill include ensuring efficiency in public service delivery in terms of time, cost, and procedure for doing business, improving transparency, removing outdated provisions from relevant laws, and providing incentives to encourage Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) participation in business.
While giving highlights of the Bill, she said these include the codification of the Presidential Executive Order 001 (001), which requires MDAs to publish licenses, permits, waivers, approvals, and other related information, among other things, in order to improve transparency and public access to information.
Others are:” amendment of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 with the recognition of electronic share certificates, electronic voting at annual general meetings, and other information is in tandem with technology best practices.
“The provisions of Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) Act and CAMA have been reconciled to recognize the exemption of free trade zone companies licensed by NEPZA from company registration,” the statement reads.
She stressed that the Bill also provides for ease in the procedure for increase in share capital by including the option for such decisions to be determined by a resolution of the Board of Directors, subject to the provisions in the articles of association of the company or by the company in general meeting.
It also proposed that the minimum number of independent directors for public companies be revised from three (3) to one-third of the Board.
“Furthermore, with the amendment of the Export (Prohibition) Act, the Minister of Finance, Budget & National Planning will now have clear cut powers to recommend goods that should be restricted from being exported.
“This will encourage flexibility in terms of prohibited products and prohibition scope, allowing them to align with economic realities at any given time,” it stated.
Oduwole reminded that the PEBEC Secretariat had commenced a review of Nigerian Business Laws in 2017, together with several public sector and private sector stakeholders.
“This includes the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMoJ), the Section on Business Law of the Nigerian Bar Association (through the participation of over 40 law firms and consulting firms), the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER),” she added.
She said the Secretariat in view of this, had invited submissions from various public sector stakeholders while in 2018, the Council set up a sub-committee chaired by the Honorable Attorney General of the Federation & Minister of Justice (HAGF), Abubakar Malami SAN to review and draft the Omnibus Bill.
“The first version of the Omnibus Bill was produced by the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMoJ) and presented to the PEBEC in 2019. Stakeholder engagements were thereafter held with various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were held to sensitize them on the contents of the first draft of the draft of the Omnibus Bill.
“In 2020, the PEBEC Secretariat invited additional submissions to the Omnibus Bill from both public and private sector stakeholders.
“These submissions were reviewed by a Technical Committee constituted by the PEBEC Secretariat which included both private and public stakeholders. The Bill was subsequently drafted and finalized by the Legal Drafting Department of the Federal Ministry of Justice in November 2021,” she added.
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