Director General, Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC, Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu has pledged the continued support of the body towards improving business environment in Kogi State.
Princess Zahrah made the pledge on Friday at the State Action on Business Enabling Reforms, SABER technical session and statewide town hall meeting held at the Government House, Lokoja
She noted that SABER is a domestication of PEBEC, meaning that Kogi State should benefit from the goodwill of the federal government and other partners.
According to her, only Seventy point nine million dollars has been released so far, stressing that the funds will only be released based on performance index.
The Director General described Kogi State as strategically located, hence government should leverage on such advantage to boost its business environment and promote the state economy.
“Let me let you that it is no longer business as usual, know that more revenue means more allocation from the federal government since revenue allocation depends largely on what comes in from the state”, the DG explained.
Princess Zahrah explained that reports at her disposal indicated that Kogi State was yet to get to the expected stage in order to benefit from the funds, urging relevant stakeholders to step up action in that regard.
“Nigeria has not been able to meet the conditions and that is why States are yet to access the funds , and for now, Nasarawa State is leading in the North Central Nigeria, and we are ready to help the present administration to succeed”, she stated
The Director General added that Kogi State is the first to launch the “Ease of doing business document” and commended the Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo for the bold initiative.
In his speech, the Chief Economic Adviser and State Focal Person, Alhaji Aliyu Inda-Salami said the state was already walking in line with the national business policy and action plan.
Alhaji Aliyu assured that Kogi State will witness aggressive economic transformation under the SABER programme and appealed for sustained cooperation of PEBEC.
Stakeholders at the session include Ministry of commerce and Industry, Justice, Information, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Investment and Promotion Agency, Agriculture, security agencies and business communities among others.
PEBEC is a Council under the supervision of the office of the Vice President.
