Victor Ezeja
There are indications that Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has decided to implement the Stephen Oronsaye report on reform of the civil service.
This measure is part of efforts to cut the cost of governance as many agencies will either be scrapped or merged with another.
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According to Special Adviser Information and Strategy to President Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga, who broke the news on Monday afternoon, “Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council today decided to implement the report. Many agencies will be scrapped and many others will be merged, to pave the way to a leaner government.”
The Oronsaye report was submitted 12 years ago but is yet to be implemented.
The decision to implement the report was made at the Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by President Tinubu on Monday.
Special Adviser to the President on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, who read out details of the decision after the FEC meeting at the State House, said the Federal Government will merge some parastatals, agencies, and some commissions, while others will be subsumed, scrapped or relocated.
According to her, the Federal Executive Council set up an eight-man committee with the mandate to implement the mergers, scrapings, and relocations within 12 weeks.
The committee comprised Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Head of the Civil Service, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, 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.
Back Story on Oronsaye Report
The Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalization of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, and Agencies was established in 2011 by then-President Goodluck Jonathan, and Oronsaye, a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, served as the chairman.
The committee turned in an 800-page report on April 16, 2012, which among other things listed overlapping entities that waste public funds.
The report said there were 541 parastatals, commissions and agencies and recommended that 263 of the agencies should be reduced to 161, 38 agencies abolished and 52 merged.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
