The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission (ICPC), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) are among the agencies that will be merged following a directive yesterday by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu that the Steve Oronsaye report be fully implemented.
Also recommended for a merger were the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), the Voice of Nigeria (VON) and the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
The Nigerian Communications Commission and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) were equally recommended for a merger.
Recommended to be scrapped and placed as departments or units in relevant ministries were the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), the National Board for Technical Education, the National Commission for Colleges of Education, the Federal Character Commission, the Gurara Water.
Management Authority (GWMA), the Nigeria Integrated Water Resources Management Commission (NIWRMC), the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), the Commercial Law Department and Centre for Automotive Design and Development (CADD).
Tinubu, according to his Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala-Usman, constituted a committee to implement the mergers, scrapping and relocations within 12 weeks.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan had in 2011 set up the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies under the chairmanship of a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Steve Oronsaye.
The committee had submitted an 800-page report on April 16, 2012 wherein it uncovered a high level of competition among many overlapping agencies that created ill feelings among government agencies and caused expenditure wastages.
It also recommended, among other things, that government funding of professional bodies and councils be discontinued to free funds for capital projects.
The Oronsaye report established that there were 541 parastatals, commissions and agencies (statutory and non-statutory) and recommended that 263 of the statutory agencies should be reduced to 161, while 38 agencies should be abolished and 52 should be merged.
The committee also recommended that 14 of the agencies revert to departments in ministries.
However, the report was not implemented by the Jonathan administration.
The administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, in November 2021, inaugurated two sub-committees for the implementation of the report.
The two 11-member sub-committees were Government White Paper on Oronsaye Report and Review of New Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions.
Addressing State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said, “So, in a very bold move today, this administration, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, consistent again with his courage to take very far-reaching decisions in the interest of Nigeria, has taken a decision to implement the so-called Oronsaye Report.
“Now, what that means is that a number of agencies, commissions, and some departments have actually been scrapped. Some have been modified, and marked while others have been subsumed. Others, of course, have also been moved from some ministries to others where the government feels they will operate better.”
Also speaking, Bala-Usman said Tinubu’s directive was in line with the need to reduce cost of governance and streamline efficiency across the governance value chain.
Also, to be merged or scrapped, according to the report, are the Standards Organisation of Nigeria; the Consumer Protection Council (CPC); the National Orientation Agency (NOA); the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), the Nigerian Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Studies (NIHOTOUR), the National Troupe and the National Theatre and the National Gallery of Arts; and Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN).
Others are the Nigeria Leather Science Technology, the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT), the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), the FIIRO, NASENI, NCAM; the National Rural Electrification Agency (NREA), the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN).
Also affected are the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA); Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR); National Economic Recovery Fund (NERFUND); National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA); Nigerian Institute for Education Planners and Administrators; National Metallurgical Development Centre Jos; and National Metallurgical Training Institute Onitsha, Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences (NIMG) Jos.
Also are Nigerian Geological Survey; National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency (NSRMEA); National Productivity Centre; Nigerian Copyright Commission; NTA, FRCN, Voice of Nigeria; National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, Roll-Back Malaria, Epidemiology and Surveillance, Occupational and Environmental Health, Health Emergency Preparedness and Response.
(Daily Trust)
