Franca Ochigbo, Abuja
THE Acting Managing Director, Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA), Bitrus Dawuk, has called on the Federal Government to amend the Act that gave birth to the agency 27years ago.
He told reporters in Abuja at the weekend that the agency has played very positive roles in the economy.
According to the Dawuk, there is need for the amendment of this Act as there are a lot of issues that the current Act is not addressing very well.
He said he would work with the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo, the National Assembly and stakeholders in the sector to get the Act amended.
“Like I said, the Act will be very helpful to the nation by bringing in investments in terms of infrastructures, turn around in the financial sector especially for the free trade zones, offshore banking which will have major components of the proposed Act,” he said.
He said NEPZA has not been getting subvention for overhead since 2018 and has been sustaining itself from internally generated revenue (IGR). “We desire that NEPZA will be self-sustaining in the next two to three years. If the Act is amended, it will create more investment, more employment opportunities and wealth both direct and indirect.
“President Muhammadu Buhari’s government made it easier; allocation to NEPZA has moved up to N40billion and above; every year, there is also allocation of N20billion. Before now, from 1992-2016, the organisation allocation has never been up to N30million,” Dawuk said.
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