FCCPC enhances ease-of-doing-business, launches portal for merger notification

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC has gone a step further to enhance ease of doing business by launching a merger portal as part of a process to simplify and reduce bureaucracy in the merger process in Nigeria.

The portal involves a remote filing system by business people for all merger notifications and according to the commission; the objective of the portal is to make it easy for the submission of merger notifications to the commission.

It is expected that this will facilitate ease of doing business, a desire by every investor operating in Nigeria. Nigeria as of 2020 stood at 131 out of 190 countries in World Bank ease of doing business.

Babatunde Irukera, the executive vice chairman of the FCCPC who said the product is a collective work with stakeholders encouraged those who have notification to file to use the portal. “The notification portal is still a subject for us all to continue to work on, and quite a lot of people have commended this availability for engagement,”

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He said the Commission will continue to be responsive to the needs of businesses, and urged all to ensure compliance with the regulatory laws. He further noted that Mergers and Acquisition were part of a competitive process that provides discretion for parties.

According to him, “Criticisms are largely reflective of a society, and so, I think it is important to engage stakeholders on this, and educate them on what we think is the case,” said Irukera.

Christiana Umana, the head of Mergers and Acquisition Unit of the FCCPC, said the portal is to automate the process of filling at the Commission. According to her, the notification portal is also home based so as to encourage originality and uphold the nation’s sovereignty.

“The portal automates the merger notification process, ensures that the information relayed are encrypted, and also has a daily backup for disaster recovery,” said Umana.

Adamu Abdullahi, the executive commissioner in charge of operations, said that as an initiative of the government, the portal seeks to create ease of doing business in Nigeria. According to him, enforcement of the law is the responsibility of the Commission, while the stakeholders have the responsibility of compliance.

“Industries must know the rules and play by it. From Industries, we expect compliance with the rules, while they in turn require accessibility from us; so, in the coming months, we will continue to carry our stakeholders along in this process,” said Abdullahi.