From Jude Dangwam, Jos

The Executive Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, has assured the business community in the state of a more favourable business environment across the state in the coming year 2025.

He said his administration has embarked on a holistic approach to further consolidate on the successes recorded in the last one year through legal reforms and infrastructural development across both urban and rural areas to boost businesses and improve the investment opportunities and the lives of citizens of the state.

Mutfwang gave this assurance at a dinner hosting the Plateau Business Community on Tuesday at the New Government House Banquet Hall, Little Rayfield, in Jos the State capital.

“Plateau State has the economic potential of becoming a nerve centre in northern Nigeria. Your confidence in Plateau State will not be taken likely.

“We have embarked on reforms in the energy sector and we are going to have various power plants that will serve as a catalyst for economic growth especially in the agric sector,” he stated.

Mutfwang further assured the business community of government’S resolve to sit with the private sector on the new tax bills by the federal government and come up with a position based on the peculiarity of the state.

The Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of the State, Philemon Dafi, disclosed that law reform establishment is one important step taken by the Mutfwang administration towards reforming all laws in the state meeting global standards and enhancing businesses on the Plateau.

“The laws of the state are generally obsolete, so the institution that will drive civilization, development and business structured in a civilized manner is going to be through the law reform commission.

“There is a law reform commission in place in addition to the law reform committee working in synergy to reform all the laws of the state to bring it to civilization.

“The second law is the electricity management law in place and the energy operation law in place which establishes the regulatory body of the electricity market.

“Another milestone in record time is that Plateau State Citizen Mediation Centre law where issues affecting businesses is negotiated and agreed upon in a meeting rather in Court where you spent a lot on litigation and ends as enemies,” he explained

The Attorney General further explained that there are four other laws in the offing, calling for the establishment of Office of the Public Defendant.

“There is this law that we need to urgently have it which is the establishment of the Office of the Public Defendant which, if passed into law, will defend businesses and other small and medium scale business (SMEs) because they have so much issues but they don’t have people that will defend them and these are people that aggregate catalyst and drives our economy.”

Some Chief Executives of various private establishments in the state, such as the former governorship aspirant, Chief Kefas Ropshak of Kefiano Autos, urged the state to address the issue of capital flight and should harnessed the maize potentials among other farm produce to further create jobs opportunities and boost the economy.

The Chief Executive Officer Dilkon Group of Companies (DG), Leo Dilkon, also urged the state government to also look inward and identified local investors that can drive the economy by pulling billions of naira in to the state economy while tracking other revenues especially in the mineral sector for the common good of Plateau people.

The business community commended the governor for the various reforms recorded under his administration in the last one year which has propelled businesses to grow and stressed that they look forward to having more of such reforms in the coming year.