Panelists at the just concluded Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Annual General Conference held at Eko Atlantic, Victoria Island, Lagos have given some hints on how to build a sustainable regulatory institution in Nigeria.
This was made known during the NBA Section on Business Law (NBA SBL) session on the topic “Building Sustainable Regulatory Institutions.”
Babatunde Irukara, a regulator in a consumer and protection space, said that there should be the adoption of a regulatory policy that will transcend to a strong regulatory framework, predictability, and knowledge of where they regulate.
He noted that the regulators are still trying to find their balance which makes them unclear in their decision. He said: “Adopt a regulatory policy, a strong regulatory framework.”
Another panelist, Ayotola Jagun, said that regulators should know the philosophy of the industry they are operating in.
Dafe Akpeneye, a Legal and Regulatory Commissioner at NERC, proposed that the legal method and the expert method should be the two major schools of regulations and that there must be a room for interest balancing.
Neboth Oyinyezo, a lawyer at oil and gas industry, said that in order to build a sustainable regulatory institution, regulators should be firm, uniform, and accountable.
Chiagozie clarified further that regulators should also be independent and certain, stating that they should be free from political interference so as to stimulate the economy.
The panelists suggested that a fine should be imposed in order to create fairness.