The Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Muda Yusuf, on Sunday urged President Bola Tinubu to reform agencies with overlapping mandates.

He said this in a statement released to THE WHISTLER.

Yusuf commended the recent removal of Value Added Tax and excise duty on pharmaceutical raw materials, intermediate products, medical diagnostic equipment and machinery.

He said these fiscal policy measures would boost domestic production of pharmaceutical products, reduce the cost of medications, improve access to healthcare and impact positively on the well-being of citizens.  

He added that it would also revitalize the nation’s pharmaceutical industries and create more jobs.

The CPPE boss further stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s scrapping of its Price Verification System Portal which was a needless duplication of the functions of the Nigeria Customs Service, and a product of a dysfunctional foreign exchange regime was necessary as it will save funds for more robust initiative.

He said, “We urge the CBN to sustain its engagement with the private sector for quality, evidence-based feedback on monetary policy outcomes.

“In the meantime, we should identify other overlapping regulatory functions which had continued to constitute impediments to domestic and foreign investments. The impact varies across sectors.

“Some of these regulatory overlaps exist concerning the following institutions: Federal Ministry of Environment, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency [NESREA], State environmental protection agencies, local government environmental units, and state waste management agencies.  

“There are also overlapping functions concerning the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, Weights and Measures Department, and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission [FCCPC].

“These are some of the numerous regulatory institutions with overlapping mandates. They are sources of avoidable distractions and significant financial burden to investors”.

He also noted that the reforms should not be limited to the food and health regulatory sectors as the logistics sector was a nightmare for most investors.

“There are numerous regulatory and institutional irritations from a multitude of agencies of state and non-state actors creating logistics nightmare for investors,’ he added.