Presidential council indicts interior ministry on expatriate quota delays

The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council led by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has issued a letter to the Minister of the Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, accusing his ministry of delaying expatriate quota and introducing procedures which are ‘inimical to the ease of doing business’.

An expatriate quota is a form of approval granted to companies and registered firms to employ the services of expatriates with relevant competencies.

The PUNCH had reported in December 2020 that the Director, Citizenship and Business, Mrs Moremi Soyinka-Onijala, had failed to attend to applications for several months within which many expatriates had been unable to renew their work permits due to the delays by reforms introduced by Aregbesola.

In a letter obtained by The PUNCH dated June 1, 2021, marked PEBEC/EBES/FMI/20210601 and signed by the Secretary of the Presidential Council, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, it was stated that the development in the ministry was ‘inimical to the ease of doing business’.

In the letter titled ‘Ease of Doing Business intervention: Escalation on matters arising at the Ministry of Interior in respect of business permit and expatriate quota processes’, Aregbesola was asked to address the matter as quickly as possible.

Oduwole, who is also the Special Adviser to the President on Ease of Doing Business, said the Presidential Council had in the past collaborated with the ministry to implement reforms that had made it easier for foreign and joint venture firms to apply and obtain business permits and expatriate quota positions.

PUNCH