Major shakeup as President Tinubu has ordered the rejigging of many Federal Government Agencies and Departments.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that many federal agencies, departments and commissions are either to be scrapped or merged to reduce the cost of governance, Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris said yesterday.
He said the reorganisation followed the directive on the implementation of the Oronsaye Report by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu within three months.
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The report of the panel on civil service reforms set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan was submitted 12 years ago.
Neither the Jonathan Government, which received the report, nor the Buhari Administration that succeeded it, implemented the content of the far-reaching report on streamlining of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government.
The minister, who spoke on the implementation of the report to reporters after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by the President, said the decision will not lead to job loss in the civil service.
Idris said the affected agencies, commissions and departments would be scrapped, merged or subsumed under others for better performance.
Idris, who described the implementation as a landmark decision, recalled that the Orosanye Committee had recommended the rationalising of the parastatals, agencies and commissions.
The minister said President Tinubu has taken the bull by the horns by implementing the report after failed attempts by previous administrations.
He said: “A paper was turned in in 2012, but the implementation got stalled. Again, in 2021, almost seven years after that, former President Buhari also initiated a process to consider the 2014 white paper on the Orosanye Report. Again, the implementation of that also got stalled.
“Now, instead of the rationalisation that the Orosanye Report was aimed to achieve, many other agencies and commissions were established.”
Idris added: “In a very bold move, this administration, under the leadership of President Tinubu, consistent again with his courage to take very far-reaching decisions in the interest of Nigerians, has taken a decision to implement the so-called Orosanye Report.
“Now, what that means is that a number of agencies, commissions, and some departments have actually been scrapped, some have been merged, while others have been subsumed.
“Others have been moved from some ministries to others where the government feels they will operate better.
“This is a very far-reaching decision aimed at restructuring government operations as a whole.
“Secondly, it’s in line also with the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reduce the cost of governance.”
The Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hajia Hadiza Bala Usman, provided the list of the agencies, commissions and parastatals affected in the reorganisation.
She listed them as follows:
•The National Agency for Control of HIV/AIDS (NACA) is to be merged with the Centre for Disease Control in the Federal Ministry of Health.
•National Commission for Refugee Migration and Internally Displaced Persons to be merged with the National Emergency Management Agency.
•The Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa is to be merged with the Directorate of Technical Aid and to function as a department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
•Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission to be merged with the Bureau for Public Enterprises.
•Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission to be merged with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council.
•National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) to be merged with the National Centre for Agriculture Mechanisation and Project Development Institute.
•The National Biotechnology Development Agency is to be merged with the National Centre for Genetic Resource and Biotechnology.
•The National Institute for Leather Science Technology is to be merged with the National Institute for Chemical Technology.
•The Nomadic Education Commission is to merge with the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult Education and Non-formal Education.
•Voice of Nigeria to be merged with Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria.
•The National Gallery of Arts to be merged with the National Commission for Museum and Monuments.
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•The National Troupe of Nigeria to be merged with the National Theatre.
•The National Metrological Training Institute is to be merged with the National Metrological Development Centre.
•The Nigerian Army University, Biu, to be merged with the Nigerian Defence Academy, to function as a faculty within the Nigerian Defence Academy.
•The Air Force Institute of Technology is also to be merged with the Nigerian Defence Academy, to function as a faculty of the Nigerian Defence Academy.
Bala-Usman listed agencies to be subsumed into others as follows:
•The Service Compact with Nigeria (SERVICOM) is to be subsumed to function as a department under the Bureau for Public Service Reform.
•The Border Communities Development Agency is to be subsumed to function as a department under the National Boundary Commission.
•The National Salaries Income and Wages Commission is to be subsumed into the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission.
•The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution is to be subsumed under the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs (NIIA).
•The Public Complaints Commission is to be subsumed under the National Human Rights Commission.
•The Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis is to be subsumed into the Institute for Veterinary Research.
•The National Medicine Development Agency is to be subsumed under the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development.
•The National Intelligence Agency Pension Commission is to be subsumed under the Nigerian Pension Commission.
According to her, agencies to be relocated are as follows:
•The Niger Delta Power Holding Company is to be relocated to the Ministry of Power.
•The National Agricultural Land Development Agency is to be relocated to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
•The National Blood Service Commission is to be converted into an agency and relocated to the Federal Ministry of Health.
•The Nigerian Diaspora Commission is to be converted into an agency and to be relocated to the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Bala-Usman disclosed that President Tinubu has constituted a committee that will work within a 12-week period to ensure the restructuring and legislative amendments that are needed for the actualisation of these approvals.
She said the President also gave the committee the terms of reference that will guide its assignment.
Members of the panel are the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, who will chair it, the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, the Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reform, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, and the two Senior Special Assistants to the President on National Assembly.
Bala-Usman said the Cabinet Affairs Office will serve as its secretariat.
She added: “The committee will look at the administrative restructuring and also the legislative amendments required to ensure the full implementation of the recommendations.
“There are other aspects of recommendations that have also been passed to the committee to look at. It is important for us to appreciate the bold approval granted by Mr. President at the Federal Executive Council.”
In 2011, former President Jonathan set up the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies under the chairmanship of Oronsaye.
The committee submitted an 800-page report on April 16, 2012, in which it uncovered a high level of competition among several overlapping agencies, which not only created ill feelings among government agencies but also brought about unnecessary wastage in expenditure.
It also recommended, among other things, the discontinuation of government funding for professional bodies and councils to free funds for capital projects.
The report established that there are 541 Federal Government parastatals, commissions and agencies (statutory and non-statutory).
It recommended that 263 of the statutory agencies should be reduced to 161, while 38 agencies should be abolished and 52 should be merged.
The panel also recommended that 14 agencies should revert to departments in ministries.
The government later set up a White Paper Drafting Committee headed by the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke (SAN), to study the recommendations and to produce a White Paper on the report.
