Over 18 months after the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, announced a presidential directive, the Federal Government (FG) is yet to commence the implementation of the report of the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies; popularly known as the Oransaye report.
The report, named after the chairman of the committee, former Head of Service, Steve Oronsaye, was submitted to former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012. The committee was mandated to identify civil service inadequacies and recommend cost-cutting and efficiency measures.
At the end of its assignment, the Oronsaye Committee turned in an 800-page report. It recommended MDAs that should be scraped, those to be merged and those to become self-funding.
In addition, the committee recommended that the federal government should discontinue funding of professional bodies and councils. The seven-member committee recommended that the government focus on empowering the MDAs “to do more for less.” It, therefore, recommended the abolishment and merging of 102 government agencies and parastatals.
The Jonathan administration constituted a White Paper Drafting Committee composed of top government officials and headed by the then Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN).
An implementation committee, headed by the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, was subsequently constituted by President Jonathan.
But a senior official of the Jonathan government told DailyTrust that “lobbyists and political considerations” subverted implementation of the report.
The source said by the time the White Paper Committee was done with its report, the “lobbyists were all over the president and he could no longer summon the courage to implement the report”.
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SGF passes bucks
Contacted on Thursday, Willie Bassey, Director of Press in the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, declined comment insisting that the reporter should contact the finance minister who revealed the presidential directive, in the first place.
We’re on course – Finance minister
Contacted, the spokesman for the minister of finance, Yunusa Abdullahi, said the implementation was on course.
“Committees have been set up and are working towards presenting a report,” he said.
Abdullahi said when the committees are done with the assignment, the report will be submitted to the government for approval.
Report outdated, dead – Head of Service
While the finance minister said work was on to implement the report, the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan said the report could not be implemented now as it has become dated.
Director of Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Abdulganiyu Aminu referred Daily Trust to Dr Yemi-Esan’s position on the issue during a media parley earlier this year, emphasising that “she said emphatically that the report is dead”.
As part of activities for the 2021 Nigeria Civil Service Week in June, the Head of Service told journalists that the report had become obsolete but added that two committees had been set up for one to look at the report and another to look at what happened since submission of the Oronsaye Report.
“I have met with the SGF several times on the way forward with the Oronsaye Report. Most of our conversations were on the fact that Oronsaye Report is now outdated because the report took place about 8 or 10 years ago.
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“Even the agencies and parastatals that were meant to be rationalised, we have even had more created, even after Oronsaye Report. So what we have decided on recently is that the SGF will inaugurate two committees. One committee to look at Oronsaye Report and another committee to look at what has happened after the Oronsaye Report so that we can harmonise the work of these two committees and give recommendations.”
It is unclear if any committee has been constituted as the SGF’s spokesperson declined to give any details, while the spokesperson of head of service said he was unsure of the situation.
