The bill seeks to promote the ease of doing business in Nigeria by amending relevant legislation.
The Senate has passed the Business Facilitation bill.
The bill, an executive legislation, was one of the five bills for concurrence that the lawmakers considered and passed at plenary on Tuesday, having been passed by the House of Representatives.
It seeks to promote the ease of doing business in Nigeria by amending relevant legislation.
President Muhammadu Buhari, in June, transmitted a letter to the Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, seeking consideration and passage.
The legislation was transmitted three months after it was approved by the Federal Executive Council in March. It is a culmination of years of collaborative work by public and private sector stakeholders in the legal community anchored by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).
Also known as the Omnibus Bill, it is aimed at consolidating and amending outdated legislative provisions towards removing bottlenecks for micro, small and medium enterprises.
It also seeks to ensure the sustainability of the business climate and give statutory force to Executive Order 001 of 2017 on the promotion of Transparency and Efficiency in the Business - which requires Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to publish licenses, permits, waivers and approvals.
The legislation will modify the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) Act, among others - with the recognition of electronic share certificates, electronic voting at annual general meetings, and other information in tandem with technology best practices.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
It also reconciles both laws to recognise the exemption of free trade zone companies licensed by NEPZA from company registration.
Other objectives of the bill is to amend the Export (Prohibition) Act, to empower the Minister of Finance, Budget & National Planning to now have clear cut powers to recommend goods that should be restricted from being exported; and to ensure 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in public service delivery in terms of time, cost, and procedure for doing business, improving transparency, removing outdated provisions from relevant laws, and providing incentives to encourage Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) participation in business, among other things.
The bill also proposes that the minimum number of independent directors for public companies be revised from three (3) to one-third of the Board.
It will now be transmitted to the president for assent within the next 30 days.
In a statement, the Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business and PEBEC Secretary, Jumoke Oduwole, said the passage of the bill comes on the heels of the recent approval of the $750 million World Bank-backed State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) programme by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), which was earlier approved by the World Bank Board.
The SABER programme, she said, will incentivise and strengthen the implementation of business-enabling reforms across all states in Nigeria.
