FG committed to easing businesses in states, says PEBEC DG
May 25, 2026 7:36 pm
PEBEC Director-General, Princess Zahrah Audu
The federal government says it is committed to working with states to remove bottlenecks affecting businesses, starting with a subnational engagement in Plateau State.
Director General of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, Princess Zahra Mustapha Audu, stated this in Jos on Monday during a town hall meeting with the organised private sector.
“We’re here today for two reasons: one, we had a technical session with the Subnational Ease of Doing Business Council, which is chaired by the Secretary of the Government of Plateau State. And then this afternoon we’re having a town hall meeting with all the organised private sectors,” Audu said.
She explained that the engagement was designed to “interface with the businesses, understand the peculiarities of doing business in Plateau State,” and to “bring the subnational government closer to the businesses.”
The session featured an interactive panel where state officials responded directly to questions from business owners.
Audu said the aim was to “strengthen the subnational ease of doing business council” and ensure federal policies were implemented at the state level.
“Plateau is the first state we’ve been to, but we’re going to be going to all the 36 states, just like we did last year when we did the 2025 subnational ease of doing business,” she said.
Audu noted that feedback from the private sector would guide policy reviews. “Every state is different, so the private sector are here to share their pain points. The policy makers in the room will take this back, review it, and amend it moving forward.”
She highlighted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s tax reforms as part of the support for small businesses.
“If you’re below a certain threshold, you earn less than 3 million naira, you don’t pay taxes… The president has created the tax brackets in such a way that the smaller businesses do not have any tax burden on them. Like the Mister said, the President says, there’s no gain in taxing poverty,” she said.
Audu also pointed to free company registration and grants for nano and small businesses as measures to formalise the informal sector and encourage growth.
Representing the Secretary to the Plateau State Government, Commissioner for Information Joyce Ramnap welcomed the federal team and said the state was already seeing results.
“I first of all would want to thank the presidential team for picking Plateau… It is obvious that they have seen commitment on their own part as a government; they’ve seen the zeal for our administration to be able to drive the process of building a stronger economy,” Ramnap said.
She noted that Plateau had moved to sixth position in the national ease of doing business rankings, up from being “nowhere on the chart before.”
“Our main focus in this administration is to develop our economy in the state, and we have paid attention to agriculture, tourism, and of course mining as one of those economic drivers,” she said, adding that the government was working to create enabling conditions for all three sectors to thrive.
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