Nigeria’s Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) is stepping up efforts to dismantle illegal checkpoints along port corridors, prosecute officials accused of extortion and roll out a unified digital platform aimed at cutting red tape and corruption.
PEBEC Director-General, Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu said the council was shifting from policy-making to measurable implementation, with reforms targeting ports, regulation, the courts and the informal economy. Speaking to State House correspondents in Abuja on Tuesday, Audu said the Nigerian Ports Authority and PEBEC had identified legitimate checkpoints around the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports and begun installing QR-coded signs to allow truck drivers and freight operators to report extortion and harassment with evidence.
She said offenders would be prosecuted in collaboration with the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, while quarterly monitoring would continue. She said PEBEC is also developing a single digital platform through which businesses can access multiple government services using one set of credentials.
Audu said the system would reduce repeated paperwork and limit unnecessary physical contact between businesses and regulators. She said the implementation of the Business Facilitation Act had also forced 69 business-facing government agencies to publish service timelines, official fees and documentation requirements.
The ReportGov platform allows businesses to submit complaints and receive responses within 72 hours. She said PEBEC is further working to reduce regulatory duplication, improve port efficiency and cut cargo clearance times, while expanding state-level reforms under the World Bank-backed $750 million State Action on Business Enabling Reforms programme.
Audu said judicial reforms were also being pursued through expanded Small Claims Courts, Alternative Dispute Resolution and specialised commercial courts to help businesses resolve disputes more quickly and cheaply. She also announced plans to launch EnableHer, a nationwide programme aimed at formalising and scaling informal businesses through dedicated clusters offering shared facilities, reliable electricity, regulatory support and assistance with registration and certification.
“We want to create business clusters where informal businesses can receive the right guidance, obtain the necessary certifications, become registered, improve and scale,” she said. Audu said the government was committed to regulatory certainty and would not allow business-facing agencies to introduce abrupt policy changes without proper stakeholder consultation.