The Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), Akwa Ibom State chapter has urged the federal government to liberalize the power sector to enable states to generate and distribute electricity in the country.
It also suggested that states should participate “fully in the electricity generation, distribution and transmission value chain
Ime Asibong, chairman of the institute in Akwa Ibom State said in Uyo, the state capital.
Asibong who was presenting a communiqué issued after its 2021 Annual Conference held in Uyo called for the removal of impediments in the cost of doing business index and the timely issuance Certificate of Occupancy in the state.
The group which commended Governor Udom Emmanuel for his industrialisation strides and the incentives given to investors noted that the one-stop business approval agency set up in the State would remove the bottlenecks faced by investors and encourage other prospective investors to come into the state.
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” The conference lauded the Akwa Ibom state government led by Mr. Udom Emmanuel for building world class infrastructure to support industrialization policy particularly as exemplified in the massive road construction, transportation, setting up a I e stop business approval agency to reduce cost of doing business.
“They appealed to the government to take steps to automate it’s administrative processes in the area of tax assessment and collection, timely issuance of certificates of occupancy, timely issuance of construction permits in order to reduce human interference to curb corruption and other antithetical business practices.
”The acknowledged the importance and critical role of public electricity supply for economic development and other uses and appealed to the federal government to take immediate steps in the devolution of licencing authority/power to the state government to meet the social and economic needs of the people.”
The chairman also appealed for a strategy with Akwa Ibom State Government to build capacity of the youths and corporate organizations to prepare them to compete globally and access the benefits of initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).
He identified accountability, fairness, transparency, independence, integrity and ethical conduct as key components of good corporate governance.
“It enjoined public and private sector organizations in our economy to work assiduously towards ensuring that corporate governance culture becomes an integral part of their operational structure in the course of their developmental trajectory if they desire to meet the demands of the emerging digital economy”.
