Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has said the repositioning of
the Nigerian economy to effectively meet the challenges of the 21st
century is a major priority of the current Senate.
Saraki, according to a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Affairs,
Mohammed Isa, disclosed this on Monday, while declaring open a one-day
public hearing on a bill to repeal and re-enact the Bankruptcy and
Insolvency Act of 1979, organized by the Senate Committee on Banking,
Insurance and Other FinancialInstitutions, in Abuja.
It was on that basis, he said, the Senate has prioritized business
environment reform that would create more jobs and opportunities for the
youths, promote and sustain domestic entrepreneurs, as well as to attract
new investors into the country.
He said, “we believe that it is important for us to continue the process of
strengthening Nigeria’s business-related legislations by examining our
bankruptcy laws. This is because global best practices have taught us that
the bedrock of modern competitive economies is based on free entry and
free exit.
“This would also mean that for free exit to be orderly in the event of
losses, Nigeria needs stronger bankruptcy and insolvency laws to guide the
process that would ensure that such firms that incur losses can easily
break even and exit the markets using several market tools and
intervention mechanisms”.
Insolvency system and practice, the Senate President said, played an
important role in attracting both domestic and foreign investments, as
well as promoting investments and entrepreneurial development, adding
that, “given these opportunities, there is urgent need for us to repeal
and re-enact this Act which has become obsolete and out-dated”.
ý
Saraki, while reiterating the commitment of the Senate in delivering on its
legislative agenda to enable the executive to effectively undertake the
diversification of the economy and expand people’s opportunity to
contribute to better governance, noted that, “however, this requires all
hands on deck; we cannot do this alone.”
The Senate’s public hearings, he said, “are crucial avenues for us to
distil public opinion and check the pulse of the nation over our policies
and activities. Our objective is to provide our people with the needed
space to participate in our lawmaking processes. These hearings are very
important to us, as overtime, the input of actors from various fields and
diverse backgrounds on particular legislative issues, have given our work
here at the National Assembly, consensus and depth.
” As we settle in to consider the issue before us at this session on the
Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, our contributions to the discussion of the
day, must be guided by the fact that Nigeria is undergoing change; a
re-evaluation, re-definition, and re-construction across all sectors of
our lives”.
Earlier in his address, chairman of the committee, Senator Rafiu Adebayo
Ibrahim said the bill was targeted at re-vitalising and enhancing the
operational frameworks on bankruptcy and insolvency matters to strengthen
their applicability in addressing challenges in line with international
best practices.
The event, Ibrahim said, was not aimed at witch-hunting, but rather to
generate authentic information to enhance and guide the committee.
“Conceptually, bankruptcy is a successful legal procedure that results
from an application to the relevant court by a legal entity or a person to
have themselves declared bankrupt or by a creditor of a legal entity or
person in order to have the legal entity declared bankrupt. It could also
imply a special resolution which legal entity files with the Registrar of
Companies in order to be declared bankrupt,” he said.
The bill, which he said was referred to the committee on November 3, 2015
is made up of 13 parts rendered in 269 clauses, an improvement on the
existing Act with 143 clauses, most of which have become outdated and
could not sustain contemporary developments and changes.
Among stakeholders that attended the public hearing were office of the
Attorney General of the Federation, Asset Management Corporation (AMCON)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Nigerian Bar
Association, National Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), among others.