Reps to improve ease of doing business

The House of Representatives has restated its position to improve ease of doing business in the country.

Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, in a resumption address for the 2021 legislative session assured that the lower legislative chamber will deliberate on bills and motions aimed at unlocking economic potential in the country.

This, he said, will be achieved by stripping away restrictive regulation and ending predatory regulatory practices that deprive young people the opportunity to conquer new frontiers.

“In this age of technology and innovation, of daring and enterprise, we cannot risk implementing policies that handicap our ability as a nation to participate in new markets and profit from emerging industries,” Gbajabiamila said.

He assured that the House will leave no stone unturned to ensure that Nigerians live in a just society free from abuse of power and protected by a justice system built on fairness and the rule of law.

In effect, he disclosed that the House will begin consideration of bills to amend the Administration of Criminal Justice Act as well as the review of the Trafficking In Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement And Administration Act and other legislation that seek to deliver a justice system that works for all.

The Speaker said it behooves those entrusted with the governance of the country to set aside their tribal and religious differences to nip in the bud the challenges of insurgency and banditry, communal violence in the country.

“The forces that threaten our lives and property, our sovereignty and nationhood, do not make any exceptions based on the God we pray to or the language of our native tongue,” Gbajabiamila said.

“From every region and state, citizens of every tribe and religion have suffered and will continue to suffer the pain of death and the grief of loss until we put an end once and for all to the terrors of banditry, insurgency and malignant crime in all forms.

“Here in the National Assembly, we do not command any armies or control the police. Command and control of our nation’s security infrastructure is an exclusively executive responsibility. Yet it is to us that our constituents look to when the forces of darkness descend to disrupt their lives, often irreparably.

“We have to reconcile the obligations we owe to our people with the constitutional limitations under which we operate. But we will not shrink from our role as advocates for the forgotten voices, and we will continue to exercise the appropriation and oversight authority vested in us to hold to account those who bear direct responsibility for the protection of all our nation’s people.”