Committee To Effect Restructuring Of Agencies In 12 Weeks

Yesterday, the federal government announced that it was set to begin the implementation of the Stephen Oronsaye report, about 12 years after it was first put together.

In a move long-awaited by many Nigerians, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the implementation of the Oronsaye Report, a blueprint for restructuring federal agencies and commissions.

Addressing State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said,  “So, in a very bold move today, this administration, under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, consistent again with his courage to take very far-reaching decisions in the interest of Nigeria, has taken a decision to implement the so-called Oronsaye Report.⁣

“Now, what that means is that a number of agencies, commissions, and some departments have actually been scrapped. Some have been modified, and marked while others have been subsumed. Others, of course, have also been moved from some ministries to others where the government feels they will operate better.” ⁣

Also speaking, the President’s Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala-Usman, said Tinubu’s directive was in line with the need to reduce the cost of governance and streamline efficiency across the governance value chain.

Also, to be merged or scrapped, according to the report, are the Standards Organisation of Nigeria; the Consumer Protection Council (CPC); the National Orientation Agency (NOA); the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), the Nigerian Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Studies (NIHOTOUR), the National Troupe and the National Theatre and the National Gallery of Arts; and Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN).

Others are the Nigeria Leather Science Technology, the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT), the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI), the FIIRO, NASENI, NCAM; the National Rural Electrification Agency (NREA), the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN).

Also affected are the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA); Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR); National Economic Recovery Fund (NERFUND); National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA); Nigerian Institute for Education Planners and Administrators; National Metallurgical Development Centre Jos; and National Metallurgical Training Institute Onitsha, Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences (NIMG) Jos.

Also are Nigerian Geological Survey; National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency (NSRMEA); National Productivity Centre; Nigerian Copyright Commission; NTA, FRCN, Voice of Nigeria; National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, Roll-Back Malaria, Epidemiology and Surveillance, Occupational and Environmental Health, Health Emergency Preparedness and Response

Also for merger include: 

1. The National Agency for the Control of HIV Aids (NACA) to be merged with the Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) in the Federal Ministry of Health.
2. The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to be merged with the National Commission for Refugee, Migration and Internally Displaced Persons.
3. The Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa to be merged with the Directorate of Technical Aid with a function as a Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
4. The Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission to be with Bureau for Public enterprises.
5. The Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission to be merged with the Nigeria Export Promotion Council.
6. The National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure to be merged with National Centre for Agriculture Mechanisation and the Project Development Institute.
7. The National Biotechnology Development Agency to be merged with the National Centre for Genetic Resource and Biotechnology.
8. The National Institute for leather science Technology to be merged with the National Institute for Chemical Technology.
9. The Nomadic Education Commission to be merged with the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult Education and Non Formal Education.
10. The Federal Radio Corporation to be merged with the Voice of Nigeria.
11. The National Commission for Museums and Monument to be merged with National Gallery of Arts.
12. The National Theater to be merged with the National Troupe of Nigeria.
13. The National Metrological Development Centre to be merged with the National Metrological Training Institute.
14. The Nigerian Army University, Biu, to be merged with the Nigerian Defence Academy to function as a faculty within the Nigerian Defence Academy.
15. Air Force Institute of Technology also to be merged with the Nigerian Defence Academy to function as a faculty of Nigerian Defence Academy.

Those to be subsumed include:

1. The Service Compact of Nigeria, Servicom to be subsumed to function as a department under the Bureau for Public Service Reforms.
2. The Border Communitied Development Agency to be subsumed to function as a department under the National Boundaries Commission.
3. The National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission to be subsumed into the Revenue Mobilisation, and Fiscal Allocation Commission.
4. The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution to be subsumed under the Institute for International Affairs.
5. The Public Complaints Commission to be subsumed under the National Human Rights Commission.
6. The Nigerian Institute for Triponosomiases to be subsumed into the Institute for Veterinary Research.
7. The National Medicine Development Agency to be subsumed under the National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development.
8. National Intelligence Agency Pention Commission to be subsumed under the Nigerian Pension Commission.

Agencies to be re-located:

1. The Niger Delta Power Holding Company to be relocated to the Ministry of Power.
2. The National Agricultural Land Development Agency to be relocated to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
3. The National Blood Service Commission to be converted into an agency and relocated to the Ministry of Health.
4. The Nigerian Diaspora Commission to be converted into an agency and to be relocated to the Federal Ministry of Finance.

here are 12 highlights of the original version of the much talked about document.

•Scrapping and merging of 220 out of the existing 541 government agencies at the time the report was prepared.

•Management audit of 89 agencies, capturing biometric features of staff as well as the discontinuation of government funding for professional bodies/councils.

•Merging of Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) with Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) to be called Public Enterprises and Infrastructural Concession Commission (PEICC).

•Fusing of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and National Commission for Refugees (NCF) to be called the National Emergency and Refugee Management Commission (NERMC).

•Merging of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), the Voice of Nigeria (VON) under one management called the Federal Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria (FBCN).

•Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) to become an agency under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

•Among the 38 federal agencies to be abolished, also include: Public Complaints Commission, National Poverty Eradication Programme, Utilities Charges Commission, National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, National Intelligence Committee etc.

•In addition, 14 agencies are to be fused into ministries where they were created from, while the Debt Management Office (DMO) is to return to the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Public Health Department is expected to go back to the Federal Ministry of Health

•The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) will become a department in the Nigeria Police Force, also, the Universal Basic Education Commission, Nomadic Education Commission, and National Mass Literacy Commission, the report said, are performing overlapping functions and should be brought under one body.

•If the 800-page document is implemented in its original form, at least 102 heads of agencies and parastatals are expected to lose their jobs.

•At the time, Oronsaye said that that if the committee’s recommendation was implemented, the government would save over N862 billion between 2012 and 2015.

While N124.8 billion would be reduced from agencies proposed for abolition, at the time, about N100.6 billion was to be saved from agencies proposed for mergers; about N6.6 billion from professional bodies; N489.9 billion from universities; N50.9 billion from polytechnics; N32.3 billion from colleges of education and N616 million from boards of federal medical centres.

•Also, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) are expected to be merged if the report is implemented in its original form.