Vice President Yemi Osibanjo (SAN) has presented Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) recognition award to Oando, FirstBank and other private companies. The awards ceremony was held at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja. The firms were recognised for their support of PEBEC initiative. The event marked the second annual PEBEC awards ceremony.
PEBEC was set up in July 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari to remove critical bottlenecks and constraints to doing business in the country. It was also to drive reforms to make the country a progressively easier place to do business and thrive. PEBEC is inter-governmental and inter-ministerial chaired by Prof Osinbajo. It comprises 10 ministers, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), representatives of Lagos and Kano state governments, the National Assembly and the private sector.
In a thought leadership piece by Oando Group Chief Executive, Wale Tinubu published in 2018, he said: “We at Oando, have always been firm believers in the African proverb, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together’, and every step of the way, we have approached and tackled each challenge by collaborating with private sector partners and the Government where necessary.”
Oando was the first private company to enter gas distribution and pioneered gas distribution in the Greater Lagos area with the aim of spurring industrialisation. Some of its notable gas projects include the development of 260km gas pipeline grid across Nigeria, Alausa and Akute Independent Power Plants and a Compressed Natural Gas plant, offering clean and affordable energy solutions which equate to significant cost advantages for industries across the country.