THE FEDERAL Executive Council (FEC) has resolved to fully implement the 2012 Stephen Oronsaye Report; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, revealed this to State House Correspondents after Monday’s FEC meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The minister said some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) would be scrapped, while others would be merged or subsumed into relevant organisations of government.
He assured that the aim of the implementation is only to cut costs and not throw Nigerians into the labour market.
The minister, who said that details of the affected MDAs would be made available soon, disclosed that a committee had been set up for the implementation.
“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,” the minister said.
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Consequently, the President constituted a committee to implement the mergers, scrapping and relocations within 12 weeks, said Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Mrs Hadiza Bala-Usman.
Submitted in 2012, the Oronsaye Report on public sector reforms revealed that there were 541 — statutory and non-statutory federal government parastatals, commissions, and agencies.
A year earlier, the then President Goodluck Jonathan had set up the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies, under the leadership of then former Head of Civil Service, Stephen Oronsaye.
The 800-page report recommended that 263 of the statutory agencies be slashed to 161; 38 agencies be scrapped; 52 be merged and 14 be reverted to departments in various ministries.
The report also recommends that the law establishing the National Salaries and Wages Commission be repealed and its functions taken over by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Responsibility Commission.
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It advised the federal government to merge the nation’s top three anti-corruption agencies; the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).
Idris also revealed FEC’s deliberation on the proposed industrial action by the Nigeria Labour Congress, urging it to shelve the plan.
He said that government had fulfilled more than 85 per cent of the agreements entered into with Labour in September 2023.
The minister said that Labour should consider the efforts of government in addressing the challenges and not allow mischief makers to hijack the situation at this critical period.
Similarly, the council approved the continuation of payment to vulnerable households under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).
Minister of Finance Wale Edun said that appropriate measures would be put in place to verify all beneficiaries.
He said all beneficiaries would be identified through their BVN, NIN and account numbers or electronic wallets even after the payment.
Edun said that the reintroduction of the NSIP was in line with the administration’s desire of addressing the challenges faced by vulnerable Nigerians.
He added that 12 million households would benfit immediately from the payment of N25,000 NSIP initiative.
