The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has commended the Senate for coming up with the initiative tagged the National Assembly Business Roundtable.
The Director-General of the chamber, Mr. Muda Yusuf, gave this commendation in a statement where the LCCI remarked on the investigative activities of the National Assembly and their implications for the private sector and the economy.
The National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable was created in 2016 as a platform for the legislature and the private sector to engage, deliberate and take action on a framework that will improve Nigeria’s business environment through a review of relevant legislations and provisions of the Constitution.
Yusuf said, “The LCCI appreciates the role of the Senate in ensuring the enactment of enabling laws and reviewing of obsolete legislations to create an enabling environment for investors. Other organs of the National Assembly should take a cue from this laudable initiative. We note in particular the Senate’s initiative under the aegis of the NASSBER.
He, however, cautioned that where the information for some of the investigations being carried out by the National Assembly was many, the NASS should give ample time for the gathering of such information.
He stated, “For instance, the current investigative hearing of the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise, Tariffs and Marine Transport covers 10 years – 2006 to 2017, covering all export and import transactions of companies over the period. This naturally requires ample time to put together and present.”
He stressed the need to streamline the summons and public hearings to avoid duplications and overlap between the Senate and the House of Representatives.
He added, “It is also imperative for the leadership of the National Assembly to vet the summons by its committees to ensure efficiency, cost effectiveness and optimisation of executive time committed to the public hearings. This is important when we realise that we have 89 standing committees in the House of Representatives and 59 standing committees in the Senate.”
