Ebonyi Assembly Passes SMEs Devpt Agency Bill Into Law

By Egede Sylvester, Abakaliki

The Ebonyi State House of Assembly has passed into law a bill to establish the Ebonyi State Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency and other related matters.

The law deemed to have come into force on 27th June 2023 will be cited as Ebonyi State Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency. Speaking on the bill, a leader of the House Hon. Kingsley Ikoro argued extensively in support of the bill stating that the bill if passed into law will develop strategies for providing SMEs with access to markets and finances through initiatives.

Contributing, the Chief Whip, Hon. Nkemka Okoro Onumah stressed that the bill would create well defined support framework for interested entrepreneurs while Hon. Victor Nwoke representing Abakaliki North urged his colleagues to support the passage of the bill which he said would create job opportunities. In his own contribution, the Deputy Chief Whip Hon. Arinze Lucas Chukwu pointed out the need for prompt passage of the bill saying it would provide essential business statistics that would assist the government in formulating sound business and revenue generation policies.

Speaking also, Hon. Godwin Abiri representing Izzi West Constituency and Hon. Oluchi Ezeali representing Afikpo North East stated that the bill would facilitate the development of business ideas through on-the-job training for new entrepreneurs in Ebonyi State. Others who spoke in favour of the bill includes, Hon. Ogba Celestine, Hon. Nwankwo Chikezie Igu, Hon. Goodluck Mbam, Hon. Nwodo Aloysius and Hon. Chikaodili Nome who were of the opinion that the bill would stimulate economic growth in Ebonyi State.

The bill which was exhaustively deliberated in the committee of the whole was read page by page where errors of syntax and morphology were corrected. The Speaker Rt. Hon. Moses Ije Odunwa puts the passage of the bill into vote and it was unanimously adopted.