News Round The Clock (NRTC) earlier reported that President Bola Tinubu authorized the implementation of recommendations from the Stephen Oronsaye report—aim to merge certain parastatals, agencies, and commissions, while others will either be absorbed, dissolved, or relocated.
Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, outlined the highlights of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in a statement.
According to the statement, a significant recommendation from the meeting is the subsuming of the National Salaries, Income, and Wages Commission under the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission. Amending the constitution will be necessary for this, as RMAFC was established by the constitution.
Furthermore, the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission will merge with the Bureau of Public Enterprise, to be renamed as the Public Enterprises and Infrastructural Concession Commission.
Likewise, the National Human Rights Commission will absorb the Public Complaints Commission, while the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) will be abolished, with its functions transferred to the Federal Ministry of Finance.
Additionally, NEMA and the National Commission for Refugees will merge to form the National Emergency and Refugee Management Commission. The Border Communities Development Agency will become a department under the National Boundary Commission.
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Similarly, NACA and NCDC will merge, with SERVICOM becoming a department under the Bureau for Public Service Reform (BPSR). Also, NALDA will return to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
The Federal Ministry of Science will oversee a new agency combining NCAM, NASENI, and PRODA, while the National Commission for Museums and Monuments and the National Gallery of Arts will merge to form the National Commission for Museums, Monuments, and Gallery of Arts.
The National Theatre will merge with the National Troupe, and the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa and the Directorate of Technical Aid Corp will merge under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission will become an agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Federal Radio Corporation and Voice of Nigeria will merge to become the Federal Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria.
Furthermore, the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and the National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology will merge into the National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA). Similarly, the National Institute for Leather Science Technology and the National Institute for Chemical Technology will merge.
The Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency and the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development will merge, as will the National Metallurgical Development Centre and the National Metallurgical Training Institute.
Furthermore, the National Institute for Trypanosomiasis will be subsumed under the Institute of Veterinary Research in Vom, Jos.
Moreover, the FEC approved the construction of the Lagos-Port Harcourt-Calabar Coastal Superhighway to Messrs Hitech Construction Africa. The first phase, consisting of 47 kilometers, will commence in Lagos.
Social security payments to vulnerable households will begin immediately, with recipients required to have both NIN and BVN. These payments will also be extended to graduates from NCE and upwards, and urgent establishment of Consumer Credit is planned.
A committee led by the Chief of Staff, alongside the Budget Minister, Attorney-General, Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Finance, will work towards realizing the scheme.
In a bid to enhance efficiency in the Federal service and reduce the cost of governance, the Council has decided to implement the recommendations of the Steve Oronsaye panel on the restructuring and rationalization of Federal agencies, parastatals, and commissions.
The implementation will involve merging, subsuming, and scrapping agencies with similar functions.
The Oronsaye report, submitted in 2012 to the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration, led to the release of a white paper by the Jonathan government in 2014. After re-examining the white paper, the Buhari administration released a second white paper in August 2022 but did not implement the report.
However, the Tinubu administration has opted to tackle the issue of high governance costs by implementing elements of the report.
An eight-man committee has a 12-week deadline to ensure that the necessary legislative amendments and administrative restructuring needed to implement the reforms are efficiently carried out.
The committee comprises the 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, and Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Affairs. The Cabinet Affairs Office will serve as the secretariat.
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