Assemblymen Tasked on Advisory Board For PPP

The Lekki Concession Company (LCC), has urged the Lagos State House of Assembly to properly spell out the functions of the Advisory Board in the bill for a law to provide for Public-Private Partnership in the state.

Head of Lekki Concession Company, Jobalo Osikanlu, gave the advice at a public hearing on the bill held at the Assembly complex recently.

According to him, “if there is a provision for the Advisory Board, then, a director general must be the overall head. We do not have fear regarding concessionaire, but we believe as partner to this programme, we are concerned about its successful outcome.”

Reviewing the bill earlier, Babatunde Ogala, a lawmaker, explained that the proposed law contained 31 sections that include establishment of the office of the PPP, functions of Advisory Board and powers of the office.

Others are objectives of the office, approving authority, power to borrow, bank account and annual report.

According to Ogala, who is the Chairman, Adhoc Committee on Judiciary, one of the functions of the advisory board was that it shall render advice on the objectives, functions and power of the office, pursuant to the provisions of the law.

The Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Adeola Olamilekan, said the House of Assembly has been on the right direction in passing into law some bills that would position the state to be friendly with the private sector, adding that the Public Procurement Bill is at an advance stage.

“It is a signal that Lagos Assembly wants to ensure that our state is readily available for any direct or indirect investment coming into the state.

“What we are doing is to enable the general public to have an input, overview, responses or comments into the bill before us and at the end, it would be submitted before the Lagos Assembly and each section of the bill will be critically looked into while we are going to invite experts to work hand-in-hand with us before it is passed into law.

“When passed, the law will also be subjected to review if need be,” Olamilekan stressed.