By Moses Ebosele –
The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday signed three executive orders “that will significantly change some of the ways government business and operations are conducted in the country forthwith”.
Ahead of the signing, the Acting President held an interactive session at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa with all relevant government officials, including ministers, permanent secretaries and heads of departments and agencies among others.
One of the highlight contained in the Executive Order is that all agencies currently physically present in Nigerian Ports shall within 60 days harmonise their operations into one single interface station domiciled in one location in the port and implemented by a single joint task force at all times, without prejudice to necessary backend procedures.
Also, the new single interface station at each Port shall capture, track and record information on all goods arriving and departing from Nigeria and remit captured information to the head of the MDA and the head of the National Bureau of Statistics on a weekly basis.
The order explained that each Port in Nigeria shall assign an existing export terminal to be dedicated to the exportation of agriculture produce within 30 days of the issuance of this Order.
Also, the Apapa Port shall resume 24-hour operations “within 30 days of the issuance of this order”.
The session was meant to directly engage government officials who would be implementing the orders and the new instructions.
The executive orders also stipulate sanctions and punitive measures meant to address violations where necessary.
Specifically, Prof. Osinbajo signed the three executive orders giving specific instructions on a number of policy issues affecting:
*the promotion of transparency and efficiency in the business environment designed to facilitate the ease of doing business in the country,
*support for local contents in public procurement by the Federal Government, and
