The Kaduna State government has reassured prospective investors in the state that it would continue to provide them with the enabling environment to do business.

Governor Nasiru El-Rufai, who gave the assurance on Friday, said that the government had introduced an electronic land registration system that would ensure speedy processing of land documents within a period of 30 days.

He says the private sector is pivotal to the state’s investment drive which seeks to significantly develop the non-oil sectors of the economy such that they will overtake oil and gas as growth drivers.

At a dinner with members of the business community, Governor El-Rufai hinted that his administration would remove all bottlenecks responsible for the delay of issuance of land Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) in the state.

He explained that to ensure proper implementation of the government’s policy on land certificate issuance, the Kaduna Geographical Information System (KAGIS) has commenced the computerisation of all land titles to ensure their security and quick certification.

This kind of interaction between the Kaduna State government and the business community is a platform for both parties to share ideas and address critical challenges that impede economic activities in the state.

At the dinner, the Governor opened the interactions with an overview of the administration’s efforts in creating an enabling environment for investors to come in.

“One of the steps is to ensure that prospective investors desirous of land to build their factories will get them with ease and within a short period.

“The era of multiple taxation is over, as the government has eliminated all forms of sharp practices in the system and has brought taxation under one roof.

“Kaduna Revenue Service criminalises its cash collection, so nobody harasses people on the payment of any tax.

“I will like to suggest to KADIPA to get as many of the gazettes and circulate it among the business community in Kaduna. Maybe, in next quarterly meeting, they should available for people to go through it.

“We have eliminated double taxation in Kaduna State and the law is so good that about seven other states have come to collect the law to pass it in their states,” he explained.

Governor El-Rufai emphasised that it was important for the business community to know the essence of the tax law and cited a case that occurred in Kaduna South Local Government Area, saying it had been taken care of.

“The man has been removed from office. Now there is no harassment on any business. There is no business permit for the whole year. We collect the whole revenue and give the LGAs their own dues,” he further explained.

Many of the business leaders asked the governor to work with the business community to level the playing field for small businesses, by proposing elimination of unnecessary taxations, improving electricity supply and assisting them with access to forex.

“This meeting is an important one for the private sector, because there are many things that are not available and things that are available that the private sector is not aware of.

“Every now and then, we hear what governments in the 36 states intend to do, but what is different from Kaduna today is that there is a statement of intent and government has assured that it will make them implementable. And there is no way that we can plan anything we don’t have a baseline of what we are going to do. We also want Your Excellency to assist us with access to forex because the scarcity of it if affecting our ability to import our raw materials,” one of the investors at the meeting requested.

Responding on the complaint on forex scarcity, the Governor promised to approach the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Finance to see how they could assist the industries in Kaduna State to access forex.

“The forex situation is a national problem, but what Kaduna can do under KADIPA is to intervene with monetary authorities like the CBN, Federal ministry of Finance to ensure that Kaduna State industries get attention.

“Because people think it is only Lagos that we have industries, but Kaduna used to be the Manchester of Nigeria. We have large industries and we are trying to revive them.

“By interfacing with the CBN and the Ministry of Finance, Industry and Trade, we are trying to find a means of making life easier for Kaduna business men. And since Buhari has lived here and he knows Kaduna, I am sure he will make Kaduna number one priority ahead of other states,” an optimistic El-Rufai said.

Economic revival and job creation were some of the electioneering campaign promises made by the APC government and to realise this goal, Governor El-Rufai said the organised private sector had a prominent role to play in bringing back all the collapsed industries in the state back to life. •Sourced from Channels TV.

Photo shows Governor El-Rufai.

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