PDP governors: FG paying lip service to ease of doing business in Nigeria

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum has accused the federal government of paying lip service to ease of doing business in Nigeria.

Addressing reporters in Bauchi after the PDP governors met on Monday, Aminu Tambuwal, Sokoto governor and chairman of the forum, asked the federal government to expand collaborations with states to stem the unemployment scourge affecting the youths through technology and increased production in all fields of human endeavour.

According to the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 index, Nigeria ranked 131 out of 190 economies across the globe for running a business — up from 146th place the previous year.

“Government should stop paying lip service to the ease-of-doing-business as foreign direct investments have continued to fall partly due to obstacles placed on foreign companies wishing to invest in Nigeria,” part of the communique reads.

“A classical example is that of Facebook which indicated interest to invest in Nigeria but is being frustrated by regulatory agencies.”

On June 4, 2021, the federal government suspended Twitter operations and directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to commence the process of licensing all over-the-top (OTT) media service and social media operations in Nigeria.

The PDP governors further reiterated the need for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other revenue-generating agencies of the federal government to strictly abide by the constitution by remitting all their revenue less cost of production into the federation account as provided for by S.162 of the constitution.