President Bola Tinubu has directed the scraping, merging and fusion of 104 agencies, including the EFCC, ICPC, NCC, NTA, PTAD, Christian Pilgrims and Hajj Commissions.
The announcement was handed down by the president on Monday for the full implementation of Stephen Oronsaye report’s on the reform of the civil service.
Recall that in 2011, former President Goodluck Jonathan had set up a Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies under the chairmanship of Oronsaye.
On 16 April 2012, the committee submitted an 800-page report 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.
The Oronsaye report established that there are 541 Federal Government parastatals, commissions and agencies (statutory and non-statutory) and 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 of the agencies should revert to departments in ministries.
Former President Muhammadu Buhari’s response to the report, however, came in November 2021, when he instituted two committees under two former Heads of Service of the Federation. The first was to review the Oronsaye Report while the other was to interrogate all new establishments set up after 2014.
Reports that there are 929 Ministries, Developments and Agencies (MDAs) currently in the Federal Government budgeting structure. The report by Oronsaye identified 541 Parastatals, Commissions, and FG Agencies.
It recommends 38 Federal Agencies to be abolished, including Public Complaints Commission, National Poverty Eradication Programme, Utilities Charges Commission, National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, National Intelligence Committee, etc.
While 14 agencies to be fused into ministries where they were created, e.g., Debt Management Office to the Federal Ministry of Finance, Public Health Department back to the Federal Ministry of Health, National Information Technology Development Agency to be fused into the Ministry of Communication Technology, and many others.
It also called for the reduction of statutory agencies from 263 to 161.
It recommends 52 institutions to be merged, some of which are listed below:
• NTA, FRCN and VON into the Federal Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria (FBCN).
• NCC and NBC into Communication Regulatory Authority of Nigeria (CRAN).
• CCB, EFCC and ICPC to be merged into the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
• Another key recommendation of the committee was to discontinue government funding of professional bodies and councils. Consequently, there is a need to amend the Professional Bodies (Special Provisions) Act, of 1972 which mandates the government to provide financial support of various kinds to such bodies. They include the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN); Computer Professionals Council of Nigeria (CPRCN); Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON); Nigeria Press Council; Architects Registration Council; Council for Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN); Estate Surveyors’ Registration Board (ESRB); Town Planners Council (TPC); Nigerian Builders Council (NBC; Quantity Surveyors’ Registration Board of Nigeria (QSRB); Nigerian Builders Council (NBC); and Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMEG).
• Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution to be scrapped and its functions to be transferred to the Department of Strategic Studies in the Nigerian Institute for International Affairs (NIIA).
• The committee recommended that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Authority (PPPRA) and Petroleum Equalisation Fund be merged with Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF). The government was undecided on this recommendation.
• Based on the White Paper, the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) would be abolished and its enabling law repealed as its functions are being performed by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission. A similar fate awaits the Salaries and Wages Income Commission.
• The trio of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Metrological Agency (NIMET) were recommended to be merged into a new body to be known as the Federal Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA) and their respective enabling laws amended accordingly to reflect the merger.
• Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), the Committee recommended that it be merged with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) to synergise for management and utilisation of resources.
• The Committee recommended that the enabling law of the National Commission for Nomadic Education be repealed and the Commission’s activities taken over by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC).
• National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and their function performed in the Ministry of Environment.
• The recommendation that the National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC) be merged with the National Troupe and the National Theatre into one agency was accepted by the government. The merged entity is to be named the National Theatre of Nigeria.
• The committee recommended that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) and Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission (NCPC) be scraped and government restrict itself to only providing consular service and vaccination of intending pilgrims.
• The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the regulatory functions of the Nigerian Postal Services were recommended by the committee to be merged.
• National Salaries, Income and wages Commission to be subsumed under Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission. The National Assembly will need to amend the constitution as RMAFC was established by the constitution.
• Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission to be merged with Bureau of Public Enterprise and be rechristened as Public Enterprises and Infrastructural Concession Commission.
• National Human Rights Commission to swallow Public Complaints Commission.
• Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) to be scrapped and functions to be taken over by Federal Ministry of Finance.
• NEMA and National Commission for Refugees to be fused to become National Emergency and Refugee Management Commission.
• Border Communities Development Agency to become a department under National Boundary Commission.
• NACA and NCDC to be merged.
• SERVICOM to become a department under the Bureau for Public Service Reform (BPSR).
• NALDA to return to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
• Federal Ministry of Science to supervise a new agency that combines NCAM, NASENI and PRODA
• National Commission for Museums and Monuments and National Gallery of Arts to become one entity that will be known as National Commission for Museums, Monuments and Gallery of Arts.
• National Theatre to be merged with National Troupe.
• Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa and Directorate of Technical Aid Corp to be merged under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Nigerians in Diaspora Commission to become an agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Federal Radio Corporation and Voice of Nigeria to be one entity to be known as Federal Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria.
• National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) and National Centre for Genetic Resources and Biotechnology to be emerged into an agency to be known as National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA).
• National Institute for Leather Science Technology and National Institute for Chemical Technology to become one agency.
• Nigeria Natural Medicine Development Agency and National Institute of Pharmaceutical Research and Development to become one agency.
• The National Metallurgical Development Centre and National Metallurgical Training Institute will be merged.
• National Institute for Trypanosomiasis to be subsumed under Institute of Veterinary Research in Vom, Jos.
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