The Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has lamented that the country is
losing competitive businesses to neighbouring countries due to poor business
environment caused by bad laws and lack of infrastructure.
Dogara
disclosed this when he received council members of the Section of Business Law
of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) who paid him a courtesy visit in his
office in Abuja on Wednesday.
A
statement issued by the speaker’s special adviser on media and public affairs,
Mr Turaki Hassan, quoted Dogara as charging the Business Lawyers to focus on
deepening business laws in Nigeria in order to create a better environment for
investment.
“We
have lost competitive edge even in the West Africa region. Businesses have
migrated to other areas with better business and legal regimes.
”If we don’t put the right business environment in
place, there’s no way we can
attract investment to this country,”
he stated.
Dogara
added that the best way to go around the problem is by having forums to improve
on the laws of the country to reflect the dynamics of the
present society and by eliminating unclear laws surrounding business
transactions in the country.
He,
therefore, urged the group to take advantage of the
ongoing reform of the laws and statutes of Nigeria that the House is undergoing
to make necessary amendments.
Earlier,
leader of the delegation, Mr Babatunde Ajibade, informed told their host, that
the council seeks to partner with the House of Representatives in order to host
a conference on law reform and economic development in Nigeria.
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