The Stephen Oronsaye panel for civil service reform is set to shake up the landscape of government agencies, with the Economic Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Code of Conduct Bureau, and others facing the possibility of being merged as part of the implementation process.
President Bola Tinubu on Monday approved the implementation of the Oronsaye report, outlining steps to abolish, reduce, merge, and revise different Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) in the Federal Government.
In 2011, former President, Goodluck Jonathan, established the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, and Agencies, with Mr Steve Oronsaye as the Chairman
The Oronsaye report proposed a leaner government by merging some agencies and scrapping many others.
The 2012 committee recommended the scrapping and merging of 220 out of the then-existing 541 government agencies and the reduction of statutory agencies from 263 to 161.
Below is a list of some of the implementations to take place:
1. Code of Conduct Bureau, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission into a single agency.
2. Elimination of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission and the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission, with their responsibilities being incorporated into the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission.
3. Abolition of 38 Federal Agencies, including the Public Complaints Commission, National Poverty Eradication Programme, Utilities Charges Commission, National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, National Intelligence Committee, amongst others.
4. Merging rhe National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS as a Department under the Centre for Disease Control in the Federal Ministry of Health.
5. The National Emergency Management and the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants, and Internally Displaced Persons will be merged.
6. Abolition of the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa along with those of the Technical Aids Corp
7. Infrastructure Concessionary and Regulatory Commission be subsumed in the Bureau of Public Enterprises for greater synergy and their enabling laws amended accordingly.
8. Combination of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, and the Nigerian Metrological Agency into a new entity called the Federal Civil Aviation Authority, with their laws adjusted to accommodate the merger.
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9. Merging of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council to enhance resource management and utilisation.
10. Repeal the enabling law of the National Commission for Nomadic Education and transfer the Commission’s activities to the Universal Basic Education Commission.
11. The National Council of Arts and Culture will combine with the National Theatre and the National Troupe to form a single organisation
12. The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure be merged with the National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization and Project Development Institute
13. The committee suggested that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria and the Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission be abolished, with the government focusing solely on offering consular services and vaccinations to prospective pilgrims.
14. The Nigerian Communications Commission, the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission and the regulatory functions of the Nigerian Postal Services were recommended by the committee to be merged.
15. The National Information Technology Development Agency to be fused into the Ministry of Communication Technology
16. The Nigerian Television Authority, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria & Voice of Nigeria into the Federal Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria.
17. The Nigerian Army University to be merged with the Nigerian Defence Academy; to function as a faculty with the the Nigerian Defence Academy.
18. Air Force Institute of Technology to also function as faculty within the Nigerian Defence Academy.
19. Debt Management Office to become an extra-ministerial department in the Federal Ministry of Finance
20. Public Health Department to return to the Federal Ministry of Health
21. The Nigerian Investment Promotion Council was recommended to merge with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council to enhance resource management and utilisation.
Therefore, it is necessary to revise the Professional Bodies (Special Provisions) Act of 1972, which requires the government to offer financial assistance to these organisations.
The list comprises various professional councils and boards in Nigeria, such as the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, Computer Professionals Council of Nigeria, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, Nigeria Press Council, Architects Registration Council, Council for Registered Engineers of Nigeria, Estate Surveyors’ Registration Board, Town Planners Council, Nigerian Builders Council, Quantity Surveyors’ Registration Board of Nigeria, and Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geoscientists.
