• Unveils national, subnational business environment rankings
• As Shettima unveils 2025 business environment reports
By Florence Allor
The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC, on Tuesday, December 2, hosted an evening of celebration, reflection and renewed commitment as it marked the 2025 edition of its Awards and Gala Night at the Banquet Hall of the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.
The ceremony drew top dignitaries, led by Vice President and PEBEC Chairman, Senator Kashim Shettima, GCON, who described the gathering as “a celebration of a mindset; the belief that public service can and must be synonymous with excellence.”
With the theme “Celebrating Excellence in Public Service Delivery,” PEBEC Director-General, Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu, said the awards were instituted to honour institutions demonstrating exceptional commitment to improving Nigeria’s business environment. She reaffirmed PEBEC’s mission to entrench transparency, efficiency and global competitiveness in public service delivery.
The event’s festive atmosphere was matched by its policy significance. In his opening remarks, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, welcomed guests by emphasising that the night was “not simply about awards or recognition, but reaffirming our collective commitment to building a more competitive, more efficient, and more business-friendly Nigeria.”
He lauded PEBEC’s measurable reforms under the Tinubu administration, noting “clear signals that institutional silos are giving way to synergy and shared purpose.”
A major highlight of the evening was the release of the 2025 Business Facilitation Act, BFA, Performance Report, a rigorous assessment of 69 priority MDAs conducted between January and October.
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, NCDMB, topped the rankings with 90.6 per cent, followed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA with 89.3 per cent and the Nigeria Customs Service with 86.6 per cent. The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC with 85.3% and Nigerian Ports authority, NPA with 84.2% with placed fourth and fifth respectively.
Director-General of PEBEC, Princess Zahrah Mustapha Audu, affirmed that the report reflects the Council’s mission to champion transparency and efficiency. “We urge MDAs to leverage this data to deepen their commitment to delivering predictable, technology-driven, globally competitive services,” she said.
In his keynote address, Vice President Shettima praised the year’s reform gains, describing 2025 as “the triumph of collaboration over silos.” He highlighted landmark achievements such as the Ports and Customs Efficiency Committee, which introduced joint inspection procedures already “bearing significant fruit,” and the bold target of reducing cargo dwell time from 21 days to seven by 2026.
“When agencies pull in one direction, our nation moves forward,” he declared.
Shettima celebrated public servants who
“embraced digitisation where manual processes once reigned” and delivered improvements that directly affect “the farmer at the border, the exporter at the port, the start-up founder in Lagos, [and] the business owner in Kano.”
He reaffirmed the administration’s resolve: “We will continue to champion reforms that unlock the creativity of our people and strengthen the institutions that power our economy.”
The Gala also featured the unveiling of the 2025 Subnational Ease of Doing Business Report, ranking Lagos as Nigeria’s most competitive state with 85.6 per cent. Kaduna scored 65.1%, Oyo, the FCT and Ogun made the top five with 62.7%, 61.0%, and 59.9% respectively, with Enugu (56.2%), Plateau (56.2%), Ekiti (55.8%), Kano (54.8%), and Nasarawa (53.4%) completing the top ten.
The report identifies priority reforms including investor aftercare systems, MSME credit expansion, harmonised interstate trade rules and improved commercial justice processes.
As Shettima closed his address, he reminded the audience that “excellence is not an event, it is a culture,” urging all stakeholders to “do more in the New Year to advance the reform agenda for Nigeria’s business environment.”
