HIGHLIGHT
Yemi Osinbajo has called for an urgent task to correct many of the problems already identified by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).
Acting President Osinbajo during his visit to Lagos Airport
Osinbajo made the call speaking briefly with the press after paying a surprise visit to Nigeria’s major international airport in Lagos, declaring that the visit was in line with the work of PEBEC as he inspected several parts at the airport for over an hour.
“As part of our work on the Ease of Doing Business, on making the environment friendly, not just for local businesses but also for those who want to come and do business in Nigeria, the airport obviously is one of the major places where we need to ensure that facilities are working and that things are being run properly,” he said.
“So we have looked around, we’ve seen some of the equipment. There are many things that need to be done, many things that need to be corrected, and we have to work on them as quickly as possible.”
During the unscheduled visit, Osinbajo, accompanied on the trip by the Aviation Minister of State Hadi Sirika, checked out the toilets, noticed some of the non-functioning carousels in the arrival hall, went to Immigration officials to check the progress of plans to grant visa on arrivals to foreign investors, observed the non-functioning air-conditioners and chillers in the Departure and Arrival halls, the escalators and elevators that are in a state of disrepair among several others.
It would be recalled that PEBEC, on Tuesday, adopted a 60-day Action Plan to push Ease of Doing Business reforms in the country where Osinbajo had said “we are trying to improve the business environment in three broad respects; the entry and exit of goods, the entry and exit of persons into Nigeria, and then general government transparency and efficiency in government agencies and parastatals.”
