Ogun State Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Kikelomo Longe has made a renewed call on entrepreneurs in the State to register their businesses on the Business Premises Permit (BPP) portal, businesspermit.gov.ng, as the registration is mutually beneficial to businesses and the government.

 Longe made the call during a Stakeholders’ Engagement and Training Programme on Business Premises Permit Automation, in Ijebu-Ode for entrepreneurs in Ogun East Senatorial District of the State.

The Commissioner stated that the BPP registration is in line with the Business Premises Amended Law 2006, adding that registering on the portal would enable the government to gather data and plan better for businesses operating in the State, while information available on the database would be used to reach the registered businesses when there are interventions and programmes.

She said the present administration’s drive to improve the Ease of Doing Business through an automated process, would make the process simpler and more convenient, adding that the registration could be done online within a day instead of an average of 18 days when it was done manually.

"As you know in Ogun State, the law requires that all entrepreneurs should register their business premises and renew the registration annually. Before 2021, it used to be done manually. Now with the portal, it can be done online to the convenience of business operators in the State.  I encourage entrepreneurs to go online and register their businesses. It is to the benefit of all if you log on to the portal and process the business premises Permit", the Commissioner said.

In her presentation, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Industry, Trade and Investment, Ms. Sola Arobieke said the programme was organised to enlighten business operators about the benefits of registering on the portal and get feedback from the stakeholders.

She said the automation would help eliminate any form of extortion of business owners, as well as help entrepreneurs register and renew their BPP in a transparent, fair and convenient manner.

Reacting to a request for the manual process to be continued, Arobieke urged stakeholders to own the automation process and align with global best practices, assuring that the Ministry would provide relevant technical support that would respond to requests in a timely way.

Earlier in their separate goodwill messages, Chairman, Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists, Ogun State chapter, Mrs. Yetunde Doyin-Bello and President, Hotelier Association, Ijebu-Ode, Otunba Segun Timi lauded the State government for the imitative, calling on entrepreneurs to embrace the process.

Participants at the event, Mr. Olasunkanmi Ola-David and Mrs. Ayokunle Oshin described the programme as enlightening and appealed to the government to extend the sensitisation programme to local small-scale businesses that were yet to be reached.