According to recent reports, some federal agencies, departments, and commissions are either to be scrapped, merged, or subsumed to cut the current burdening cost of governance. The Minister of Information and National Orientation Mohammed Idris yesterday said the reorganization follows the directive on the implementation of the Oronsaye Report by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu within three months.
The report of the panel on civil service reforms set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan was submitted 12 years ago. Former presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Mohammed Buhari at different turns in their administrations did not implement 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 losses 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 Oronsaye Committee had recommended the rationalizing 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.
The Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, disclosed that President Tinubu has constituted a committee that will work within 12 weeks to ensure the restructuring and legislative amendments that are needed for the actualization 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.
