President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the immediate implementation of the Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals and Commissions headed by former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Stephen Osagiede Oronsaye.
Minister of Information and National Orientation Mr Mohammed Idris, who disclosed this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, said many agencies would be eliminated, combined or restructured in line with the recommendations of the committee.
“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.
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“Now, what that means is that a number of agencies, commissions and some departments have actually been scrapped. Some have been modified, 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,” he said.
Recall that in 2011, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan set up the Presidential Commission on Restructuring and Rationalisation of the Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies under the leadership of Stephen Oronsaye.
The Report of the committee became more famous as the Steve Oronsaye Report.
Most of the reports’ content was rejected by the government that set it up. But President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is currently facing pressure over high cost of living, has announced plans to fully implement the Report.
Here are some key highlights of the recommendations in the Report
1) 38 Federal Agencies to be abolished, including Public Complaints Commission, National Poverty Eradication Programme, Utilities Charges Commission, National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, National Intelligence Committee etc.
2)14 agencies to be fused into ministries where they were created from, that Debt Management Office to return back to the Federal Ministry of Finance
3) Public Health Department back to the Federal Ministry of Health
4) National Information Technology Development Agency to be fused into the Ministry Communication Technology
5)Reduction of statutory agencies from 263 to 161
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6)52 institutions to be merged. For example, NTA, FRCN & VON top be merged into the Federal Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria (FBCN)
7) NCC & NBC to be merged into Communication Regulatory Authority of Nigeria (CRAN)
8) CCB , EFCC & ICPC to be merged into the Anti Corruption Commission.
9)Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) will become a department in the Nigeria Police Force.
10)Also, the Universal Basic Education Commission, Nomadic Education Commission, and National Mass Literacy Commission are performing overlapping functions and should be brought under one body.