The Enugu State Government has described as mischievous and fake news, a report, which claimed that the state ranked 36th out of 36 states of Nigeria in an Ease of Doing Business Subnational Survey carried out by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PEBEC.

The rebuttal was made by the Enugu State Focal Person on Ease of Doing Business and Managing Director of Enugu State Investment Development Authority, Dr. Sam Ogbu-Nwobodo, on Wednesday.

Ogbu-Nwobodo, who is also a member of the PEBEC–NEC Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Technical Working Group (TWG), representing Southeast region, explained that the first ever Subnational Baseline Survey and Ranking was released by PEBEC in 2021, followed by the second edition released on Monday, March 27, 2023, more than two months before Dr. Peter Mbah was sworn in as governor on May 29, 2023, while the third edition is due in March 2025.

He, therefore, wondered how those behind the fake report came about the purported new Ease of Doing Business ranking of Enugu State, describing it as “a fake report from the pit of hell and coven of bitter political losers.”

Puncturing the report further, the MD explained that whereas Subnational Baseline Survey measures only six indicators, the offensive report referred to 10 indicators, including economic and social indices, which he said, were never part of the survey.

“The subnational Baseline Survey measures state performances against six indicators and not the ten so-called ‘Key Economic and Social Indices’ mentioned in the report. The official indicators are infrastructure, which covers electricity, transportation, logistics, telecoms, internet and digital access; security, which measures secure and stable environment; transparency and accessibility of information; regulatory environment, which measures business registration, license renewal, contract enforcement, land and property acquisition and taxation; skills and labour, including expertise and talent ; and economic opportunity,” he explained.

The Managing Director added that contrary to the report, the Governor Mbah Administration had improved Ease of Doing Business in Enugu State, a fact, he said, has been variously confessed by both local and foreign investors as well as diplomats.

He said that the over N300bn worth of investments garnered by Enugu State in the last three months was a testimony to the fast-rising investors’ confidence in the state under Mbah’s leadership.

“Upon assumption of office, Governor Mbah adopted a structured and systematic approach to enabling business climate reforms as the bedrock of the ongoing economic renaissance aimed at growing the state’s GDP from $4.4bn to $30bn in eight years.

“This was demonstrated by the issue of Executive Order 003 by the governor minutes after his inauguration on May 29, 2023. The order was further expanded by Executive Order 005 on Promotion of Economic Growth through Transparency and Efficiency in Government Service Provision and Ease of Investment in Enugu State.

“Consequently, the administration purposefully embarked on the most groundbreaking business-enabling reform initiatives ever witnessed in the state. These are evident in the areas of security, infrastructure development, urban renewal, e-governance, economic diversification and industrialisation as well as the revitalisation of some of the moribund government-owned enterprises and various other initiatives for improved efficiency in government services and enhanced transparency and accountability,” he said.

The government faulted claims of overtaxation in the state by the opposition, explaining that it did not increase tax, but only widened the tax net, checkmated tax evasion, while also introducing e-payment to plug leakages in revenue collection.