Experts say 35 Nigerian states still using 127-year-old laws

As the nation strives to improve her position on the Ease of Doing Business ranking, experts have advocated the need for the National and State Assemblies to repeal or amend archaic laws in Nigeria in order to create a competitive business climate.

At the inaugural National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable (NASSBER) in Abuja, the experts spoke while presenting a report titled, “Comprehensive Review of the Institutional Regulatory, Legislative and Associated Instruments Affecting Businesses in Nigeria”.
Paul Idornigie, a professor and commercial law expert and leader of the team sponsored by the Department for International Development (DFID), shocked the audience when he revealed that apart from Lagos State, 35 states of the Federation are still using the 1914 Arbitration Act, which was based on the 1889 Arbitration Act of England.

Idornigie said more worrisome was the fact that Nigeria’s colonial masters, England, where the law was adopted had since repealed/amended its own version of the legislation in 1914, 1979 and in 1996.

The expert, who was a member of a committee set up by the former Attorney General of the Federation, Bayo Ojo, to review the law in 2006, said: “We drafted two laws: one for the Federal Government to deal with inter-state disputes, the other for state governments to adopt. From 2007 till now, only Lagos State has passed that bill into law. The other states are still using the 1914 Arbitration Act that was a colonial act. This 1914 Act was based on the 1889 Act of England”.
While saying that there are currently 407 laws in the country in 14 volumes, he submitted that it is imperative for the 8th National Assembly to pass 15 identified critical bills that would greatly enhance the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

He listed the bills to include: Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Bill, National Transport Commission Bill, National Roads Funds Bill, Federal Roads Authority Bill, Nigerian Postal Commission Bill, Nigerian Ports and Harbours Authority Bill, Nigerian Railway Authority Bill and the National Inland Waterways Authority Bill.

Others are Petroleum Industry Bill, Independent Warehouse Regulatory Agency Bill, Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Bill, National Development Bank of Nigeria Bill, Franchising Bill and Companies and Allied Matters Act (Amendment) Bill.

“The public now has a template to judge the success of the 8th National Assembly by how many of the 15 identified bills they will pass before the end of their tenure,” he said.
According to data released by the World Bank in its 2016 Ease of Doing Business report, Nigeria ranked 169 out of 189 countries.

Although Nigeria moved from 170, its 2015 ranking to 169 in 2016, the largest economy in Africa was outpaced by reform-minded countries in the sub-Saharan region.
Other African countries including the neighbouring Benin Republic fared much better on how easy it is to start a business in their countries.

The report showed that developing economies quickened the pace of their business reforms during the last 12 months to make it easier for local businesses to start and operate, other countries introduced measures to fast track businesses.

The world’s top 10 improvers, which are economies that implemented at least three reforms during the past year and moved up the rankings scale, were Costa Rica, Uganda, Kenya, Cyprus, Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Jamaica, Senegal, and Benin.

Mauritius had Africa’s highest ranking at 32, followed by Rwanda (62), Botswana (72) and South Africa (73), Kenya (108), Ghana (114), Uganda (122).

According to Idornigie, 33 African countries fared better than Nigeria in the current ranking, describing it as ‘totally unacceptable’.

The report takes into consideration the ease of starting a business, obtaining construction permits, getting electricity, getting credits, enforcing contracts, paying taxes, registering property, entrepreneurship, trading across borders among other parameters.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is the world’s eighth-largest oil exporter, and almost 90 percent of its export earnings are tied to oil. Sixty percent of the population lives in extreme poverty, youth unemployment is close to 80 percent, and on top of that the nation is bedeviled with insurgency, fuel scarcity, fall in revenue due to crash in crude oil prices in the international market, tumbling of the naira against the dollar, epileptic power shortages amongst others.

The commercial law expert pointed out that state have major roles to play in improving Nigeria’s ranking.

Findings showed that in assessing Nigeria’s performance, two commercial cities of Lagos and Kano were used by the World Bank in the area of starting a business, obtaining construction permits, getting electricity, getting credits, enforcing contracts, paying taxes, registering property, entrepreneurship, trading across borders among others.
In the 2006 census, Kano State had the largest population of 9,383,682, followed closely by Lagos with 9,013,534.

“In looking at why we are doing badly in Nigeria, we must look at the laws of Lagos States and Kano States and see how they impact on this sector.
“For us to improve our ranking, we need the collaboration of states to ensure that we do better than we have done in previous years,” the legal practitioner stated.

President of Heirs Group and Chairman, United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu, said the roundtable initiated by the National Assembly further demonstrated that the nation’s laws are not perfect and that they needed to be reviewed to bring them up to speed and to enhance doing business and investment in the country.

Elumelu, who is also the Vice Chairman of the Competitiveness Council of Nigeria, noted that the involvement of the private sector in the project is critical as they represent the engine room for business growth and creation of jobs in any economy.

He said the best results could only be achieved from legislation if citizens are allowed to partake in the formulation and presentation of necessary legislation for passage by the National Assembly as being done by the 8th National Assembly.
“What we do in Nigeria will set example for other African countries and the National Assembly will help a great deal by moving away from talking to passing the legislation that would help to move the nation’s economy forward,” he said.
Elumelu added that it would be a great achievement if the National Assembly can review the Land Use Act and pass a new law this year, as it would greatly change the economic trajectory of the country.

Major parts of the report which were critically reviewed during the breakout technical sessions include the laws on competition, doing business, roads, rail and maritime infrastructure, public-private partnerships, taxation, finance and investment, arbitration and dispute resolution, e-business and intellectual property and Constitution review.

At the last sitting of the Senate Wednesday, Chairman of the National Assembly and Senate President, Bukola Saraki, had assured that the legislature would immediately commence work on the proposed laws upon resumption on April 12.