The Clerk of the 9th National Assembly has forwarded the innovative Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provision) Bill 2022, commonly known as the Omnibus Bill, to President Muhammadu Buhari for his approval.
The Executive Bill, which was approved by the Senate in December 2022 and the House of Representatives in October 2022, was forwarded to the president on January 10, 2023.
The Business Facilitation Bill aims to institutionalize changes to the business climate as well as codify Executive Order 001 (EO1) on Transparency and Efficiency in Public Service Delivery. It also seeks to amend a few business facilitation laws that have been identified as essential to the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
The bill aims to combine legal laws that affect the ease of doing business in Nigeria and improve existing changes.
The transmitted bill is the result of four years of collaboration between stakeholders from the public and private sectors, including the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMoJ), the Nigerian Bar Association’s Section on Business Law, which included participation from over 40 law firms and consulting firms, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), and the National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER).
The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) intervened with the Omnibus bill to revise and combine legislative provisions in order to further PEBEC reforms and remove obstacles for Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.
