Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Monday, gave its nod for the implementation of aspects of the 2012 Stephen Oromsaye Panel Report.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this after the council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the go-ahead was given to reduce the cost of governance.”
The minister further said the implementation of the report means that some agencies, commissions and departments of government have been scrapped, merged, subsumed and others moved under new ministries.
He explained: “President Bola Tinubu 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, of course, have also been moved from some ministries to others where government feels they will operate better.
“Like I said, this is a very far-reaching decision. It is aimed, one, to fine-tune or to restructure government operations as a whole. Secondly, it’s in line also with decision of Tinubu to reduce the cost of governance.”
Idris assured that the implementation does not mean that staffers in the affected establishments will lose their jobs.
Special adviser to the president on policy coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, gave details of the agencies involved saying, “For agencies that are required to be merged, I’ll take it; National Agency for Control of HIV/AIDS (NACA) to be merged with the Centre for Disease Control in the Federal Ministry of Health.
“National Emergency Management Agency to be merged with the National Commission for Refugee Migration and Internally Displaced Persons; the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa to be merged with 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 to be merged with National Centre for Agriculture Mechanization and Project Development Institute.
“National Biotechnology Development Agency to be merged with the National Centre for Genetic Resource and Biotechnology; National Institute for Leather Science Technology to be merged with the National Institute for Chemical Technology; the Nomadic Education Commission to the merge with the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult Education and Non-formal Education.
“Federal Radio Corporation to be merged with the Voice of Nigeria; the National Commission for Museum and Monuments to be merged with the National Gallery of Arts; the National Theatre to be merged with the National Troupe of Nigeria; National Metrological Development Centre to be merged with the National Metrological Training Institute.
“The Nigerian Army University, Biu, to be merged with the Nigerian Defence Academy, to function as a faculty within the Nigerian Defence Academy; Air Force Institute of Technology also to be merged with the Nigerian Defence Academy, to function as a faculty of Nigerian Defence Academy.
“We now move to the agencies to be subsumed.
“The Service Compact with Nigeria (SERVICOM) to be subsumed to function as a department under the Bureau for Public Service Reform; the Border Communities Development Agency to be subsumed to function as a department under the National Boundary Commission. The National Salaries Income and Wages Commission to be subsumed into the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission.
“The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution to be subsumed under the Institute for International Affairs; the Public Complaints Commission to be subsumed under the National Human Rights Commission, the Nigerian Institute for Trypanosomiasis to be subsumed into the Institute for Veterinary Research; the National Medicine Development Agency to be subsumed under the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development. The National Intelligence Agency Pension Commission to be subsumed under the Nigerian Pension Commission.
“For agencies to be relocated, the Niger Delta Power Holding Company to be relocated to the Ministry of Power; the National Agricultural Land Development Agency to be relocated to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security; the National Blood Service Commission to be converted into an agency and relocated to the Federal Ministry of Health; the Nigerian Diaspora Commission to be converted into an agency and to be relocated to the Federal Ministry of Finance.”
Usman revealed that Tinubu has constituted a committee that will work within a 12-week period to ensure that the necessary restructuring and legislative amendments that are needed to ensure that full actualization of these approvals granted.
She said that Tinubu tasked the committee with an immediate terms of reference to proceed and ensure all of these are done within a period of 12 weeks.
The committee membership comprises of the Secretary to the Government of Federation who will chair it while members are the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Director-General, Bureau of Public Service Reform, the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination; the two Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly and the Cabinet Affairs Office will serve as secretariat.
Usman 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’s important for us to appreciate the bold approval granted by Mr. President at the Federal Executive Council.
“This has been a recommendation that has been, I think, in the Nigerian discourse from 2012 and we’re here in 2024 and it’s so been approved and the aspects that are applicable to mergers, as I said, subsuming, scrapping and relocation of agencies are those that have been so considered, arising from the totality of the panel report.”
Also speaking, the minister of finance and coordinating minister for economy, Wale Edun, disclosed that the president had directed the design of a Social Security unemployment program where unemployed Nigerian youths will be paid.
He said: “At this period of heightened food prices, Mr. President has committed to doing all that can be done to assist in giving purchasing power to the poorest and in that line, he has committed and instructed that the Social Security unemployment program be devised, particularly to cater for the youth, for the unemployed graduates, as well as the society as a whole.
“So, we have coming, in the nearest future, an unemployment benefit for the young unemployed, in particular.”
Similarly, Edun said there will be a consumer credit scheme to alleviate the pains of economic adjustment.
“Finally, all in the same line, to emphasize that there is empathy. And there is feeling for those who are less well off, or feeling particularly the pains of this adjustment, there is coming a social consumer credit programme.
“So, by making consumer credit available, of course, goods become more affordable, the economy even gets a chance to revive faster, because people have purchasing power that allows them to order goods, products,” he stated.
Edun also spoke on the review carried out by the Special Presidential panel on the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), which has submitted a preliminary report to the president.
He informed that president gave the highlights to the Council meeting noting that what was done was “a review of the existing mechanisms, a review of the existing programmes, and where there have been successes, such as the 400,000 beneficiaries of the Geep programme, and so on and so forth.”
The Guardian
