PEBEC ranks Lagos Number 1 on Ease of Doing Business

By emmanuel MALAGU

The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has released the 2025 Subnational Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Report, with Lagos emerging  as the best performing state, scoring  85.6 percent.

The report released by the Director-General of PEBEC, Mrs Zahrah Mustapha-Audu, has Kaduna in second position with  65.1 percent.

Oyo, FCT, and Ogun rounded up the top five with scores of 62.7percent, 61 .0 percent, and 59.9 percent respectively.

Others include Enugu (56.2 percent) on sixth position  with Plateau (56.2percent), Ekiti (55.8percent), Kano (54.8percent ), and Nasarawa (53.4percent) rounding up the top 10 states.

The EoDB report  is a comprehensive data-driven assessment of how Nigeria’s 36 States and the FCT are shaping business competitiveness through regulation, infrastructure, and administrative efficiency.

The report assesses performance across 16 indicators and 36 sub-metrics covering electricity, infrastructure, digital connectivity, land administration, taxation, trade logistics, justice delivery, investor support and skilled labour readiness.

According to the  DG, these states distinguished themselves through consistent reform momentum, improved digital processes, and more predictable regulatory environments.

“The 2025 Report also highlights five priority interventions states can implement immediately.

“These include establishing investor aftercare systems, strengthening MSME credit enablement, harmonising interstate trade rules, upgrading commercial justice processes, and improving power reliability for industrial clusters,” she said.

According to her, PEBEC  will continue to support state-led reform adoption, particularly under the $750 million State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) programme

She added that “the 2025 Subnational EoDB Report provides a critical foundation for policy action, investment decisions, and long-term competitiveness across Nigeria.”

The DG said the  Subnational Ease of Doing Business Report is available for download at www.pebec.gov.ng/reports

PEBEC, had earlier released its 2025 Business Facilitation Act (BFA) Performance Report, covering MDAs’ performance from January to October.

This performance report is part of the councill’s  effort to track and measure the compliance of Federal Government MDAs with the BFA’s requirements on promoting Transparency and Efficiency of government-delivered services to the  business community.

The  report presents a data-driven assessment of 69 priority MDAs, drawing on monthly compliance submissions, independent mystery shopping, website audits, ReportGov analytics, and targeted process-verification exercises.

According to the  report, the top five performing MDAs include Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), with an impressive 90.6 percent  score, followed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at 89 percent.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), ranks third with 86.6percent, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) secured the fourth and fifth positions, scoring 85.3 percent  and 84.2 percent , respectively.

PEBEC, currently chaired  by Vice President Kashim Shettima, was established in July 2016 by the Federal Government to oversee Nigeria’s business environment intervention.

It has dual mandate of removing bureaucratic and legislative constraints to doing business and improving the perception of the ease of doing business in Nigeria.

Credit NAN: Texts excluding Headline