When President Bola Tinubu swore in his cabinet ministers last year, he declared that those who did not perform would be sacked. But he did not disclose the criteria or metrics of assessment to enable the public join in the effort.

The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC, however, has a system of result measurement which helps to determine which organs of the Federal Government are living up to expectations. Established in 2016 under the chairmanship of former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, PEBEC never really excited public interest.

Osinbajo was a legal expert who was saddled with the headship of the Economic Team. President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice President barely tolerated each other but cohabited for political convenience. During their second term, Buhari removed Osinbajo as head of his Economic Team.

Under the Tinubu administration, PEBEC has acquired a new lease of life. The smooth working relationship between Tinubu and his Vice President, Kashim Shettima, has impacted positively on the Council in its mandate to minimise bottlenecks in doing business. This was further boosted by the president’s appointment of performers in many areas, particularly those that have direct impact on the economy.

For instance, the Nigerian Customs Service, NCS, which between 2020 and 2022 placed 28th out of 37 Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, in PEBEC’s Service Default Approval, jumped to sixth in the past one year under Comptroller-General Bashir Adewale Adeniyi. This means that the Customs is much better positioned in doing business than ever before.

In the same vein, PEBEC ‘s recent scaling of MDAs saw the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy manned by Mr Isiaka Adegboyega Oyetola, breasting the tape in the first position. This was announced a week ago by the Special Adviser to the President on PEBEC, Dr Jumoke Oduwole. Marine and Blue Economy is barely one year old.

Oyetola, the immediate past Governor of Osun State, was initially appointed Minister of Transportation. President Tinubu later created the Marine and Blue Economy Ministry and posted him there as its pioneer Minister.

According to Oduwole, Oyetola had from Day One, mandated the heads of his parastatals to ensure the Ministry comes first in PEBEC’s Doing Business ranking. We commend the Minister and his team and urge them to take it even higher, ensuring they remove all encumbrances militating against ease of doing business in the Marine and Blue Economy sector, a major gateway to the world.

We also call on PEBEC to partner with the public, and provide them with the rules of rating the MDAs. The public bears the full brunt of Doing Business and should have a say in the performance of government officials and departments based on established criteria and concrete experiences.

PEBEC’s ratings should also be reward-based.