The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has stated that the role of an effective regulatory regime in promoting economic growth and development is not simply dependent on the technical design of the most appropriate regulatory instruments, but also on the quality of supporting regulatory institutions, capacity of their personnel and the nature of their practices.
Speaking Sunday at the 9th Annual Business Law Conference dinner organized by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), held at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos,. Osinbajo said: “As more and more investors/citizens turn to the markets to help secure their future, pay for homes, and pay for their children’s education, investor protection is now more compelling than ever before.”
In his address titled, “The Regulator, Marketplace, Justice and Economic Growth”, the Vice President noted that as most people regard government as the protector, government in response has enacted variety of laws designed to ensure that consumers and the general public are treated fairly by businesses.
“While our securities legislation provides a basis for competition and anti-trust provisions to prevent companies from combining to create monopolies and oligopolies, we do not yet have a composite competition legislation that tackles market abuses such as price fixing, abuse of dominant positions, etc. holistically,” he added.
Osinbajo also noted that as new threats to the welfare of the citizens emerge, government can use the regulatory framework to lessen the serious risks associated with such phenomena as economic depression, environmental pollution, lack of health insurance, retirement insecurity, terrorism, bank failures, and investment fraud.
He observed that in order to arrest the risk and harm the economic depression and other associated factors may exert on the citizens, the APC as a party “developed a manifesto in large part to manage and minimize these kinds of serious risks to the well-being of Nigerians”. He urged Nigerians to “act collectively to try to manage these risks,” as government will simplify the regulatory environment to ensure that the perceived costs associated with regulations are avoided.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association section on Business Law, Mr. Asue Ighodalo, said the theme for this year’s conference was Regulators As Catalysts For Economic Growth. He explained that that the Section on Business Law Conference (SBL) is headed by a distinguished legal practitioner and since it’s inception in 2004, the SBL. International Law Conference has served as a primary professional event for corporate and commercial lawyers, emerging huge investors, regulators and members of the Bench.
In his remark, the NBA President, Mr. Augustine Alegeh, while congratulating the Vice President, asked him to bring his wealth of experience as a lawyer of repute to bear in the governance. He also urged the NBA as a body to fight quacks in the profession.
In his keynote address, the Guest Speaker and Ghana’s Minister for Trade and Industry, Dr. Spio-Garbrah, congratulated Nigerians on peaceful elections, saying that West Africa has perfected its democratic development, with Nigeria as a reference point. He noted that Nigeria has done well in its regulatory processes, particularly by the Central Bank, and his country is benefitting from it as she is also regulating its own banking sector.
Spio-Garbrah regretted that since independence over 50 years ago, Africa still remains a continent without adequate electricity. He was, however, optimistic that with the regulating agencies and reform in Nigeria’s power sector, there is hope of progress. He noted the importance of the passage of the Petroleum Industrial Bill (PIB).