The Nigerian government, during its Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Monday, adopted to merge agencies in adoption of the Steve Oronsaye panel report on the restructuring and rationalisation of Federal agencies, parastatals and commissions.
At the meeting, chaired by President Bola Tinubu, the Council took the decided to implement the panel recommendations, which are to merge, subsume and scrap agencies with similar functions, in order to enhance efficiency in the Federal service, and reduce the cost of governance.
ASHENEWS revalls that Oronsaye report was submitted in 2012 to the Jonathan administration. In 2014, the Jonathan government released a white paper on the report to merge agencies.
This platform further recalls that the Buhari administration released a second white paper in August 2022, but did not implement the report.
However, the Tinubu has enacted an eight-man committee, and given a 12-week deadline to ensure that the necessary legislative amendments and administrative restructuring needed to implement the reforms are effected in an efficient manner.
The committee comprises Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Head of the Civil Service, Attorney General and Justice Minister, Budget and Planning Minister, DG Bureau of Public Service Reform, Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Special assistant to the president on National Assembly. The Cabinet Affairs Office will serve as the secretariat.
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Key recommendations for implementation:
- National Salaries, Income and wages Commission to be subsumed under Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission. The National Assembly will need to amend the constitution as RMAFC was established by the constitution.
- Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission to be merged with Bureau of Public Enterprise and be rechristened as `Public Enterprises and Infrastructural Concession Commission
- National Human Rights Commission to swallow Public Complaints Commission
- Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate(PTAD) to be scrapped and functions to be taken over by Federal Ministry of Finance
- NEMA and National Commission for Refugees to be fused to become National Emergency and Refugee Management Commission
- Border Communities Development Agency to become a department under National Boundary Commission
- NACA and NCDC to be merged
- SERVICOM to become a department under the Bureau for Public Service Reform(BPSR)
- NALDA to return to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
- Federal Ministry of Science to supervise a new agency that combines NCAM, NASENI and PRODA
- National Commission for Museums and Monuments and National Gallery of Arts to become one entity that will be known as National Commission for Museums, Monuments and Gallery of Arts.
- National Theatre to be merged with National Troupe.
- Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa and Directorate of Technical Aid Corp to be merged under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Nigerians in Diaspora Commission to become an agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Federal Radio Corporation and Voice of Nigeria to be one entity to be known as Federal Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria
- National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology to be emerged into an agency to be known as National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA).
- National Institute for Leather Science Technology and National Institute for Chemical Technology to become one agency.
- Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency and National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development to become one agency.
- The National Metallurgical Development Centre and National Metallurgical Training Institute will be merged.
- National Institute for Trypanosomiasis to be subsumed under Institute of Veterinary Research in Vom, Jos.
Brief history
ASHENEWS recalls that former President Goodluck Jonathan established the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalization of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, and Agencies, with the guidance of renowned former Head of Civil Service, Stephen Oronsaye.
In 2012, the Oronsaye report on public sector reforms highlighted the existence of 541 Federal Government parastatals, commissions, and agencies, both statutory and non-statutory.
The comprehensive 800-page report proposed to merge the number of statutory agencies from 263 to 161. Additionally, it suggested the elimination of 38 agencies, merging 52, and transferring 14 to different ministries as departments.
The report suggested that the legislation creating the National Salaries and Wages Commission should be revoked, with its responsibilities transferred to the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Responsibility Commission.
It recommended that the government merge the country’s leading three anti-corruption entities – namely, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and the Code of Conduct Bureau.
