Eight years after Oronsaye committee submited report, President Buhari adopts recommendations

ON Thursday, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the Oronsaye report by the presidential committee on restructuring of federal government parastatals, commissions and agencies initially submitted during the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

The 800-paged report submitted by the committee recommended the abolition of 38 federal agencies, the merger of 52, and the reversion of 14 agencies to departments in relevant ministries.

Bashir Ahmaad, Personal Assistant on New Media to President Buhari in a Twitter post revealed this stating the Presidency had adopted the committee’s report.

Amongst the recommendations approved by President Buhari was the discontinuation of funding to professional bodies/councils and also the downsizing of boards.

Currently, the number of federal agencies in the country is estimated to be close to 1,000.

The Committee which was inaugurated on August 18, 2011, had submitted its report on April 16, 2012.

A tweet sent by the reporter to Bashir to ascertain if the entire recommendations of the committee were adopted by the President as at the time of filing this report was yet to be replied.

Stephen Oronsaye, former head of civil service, had headed a committee set up by former President Goodluck Jonathan to identify the lapses in the civil service.

The seven-man committee had stated the “rationalization of agencies, parastatals and commissions would have human dimensions and cost implications” before suggesting that the government should focus on empowering the Ministries Departments and Agencies, MDA, “to do more for less”.

At the time when the report was submitted, there were 541 government parastatals, commissions and agencies including statutory and non-statutory in the country and the report prescribed a reduction in the number of statutory agencies from 263 to 161.