The federal government Thursday inaugurated two committees towards implementing the Stephen Oronsaye report that would see the scrapping and merger of many government agencies.
The merger is to, among other things, reduce the cost of governance in the country.
Daily Trust had recently reported that 18 months after a presidential directive, implementation of the report of the Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies was yet to begin.
The report, dubbed Oronsaye Report, after the name of the chairman of the committee and former Head of Service, Steve Oronsaye, was submitted to former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, yesterday inaugurated two sub-committees to review the Main Report and the White Paper on restructuring and rationalization of federal parastatals, agencies and commissions as well as review new agencies created after the submission of the Oronsaye report from 2014.
The SGF gave the committees six weeks to submit their reports, stating that the inability to implement the report was costing the government highly.
The membership of the sub-committee, main report and the white paper) arising therefrom, has Mr Goni Bukar Aji, a retired Head of Civil Service of the Federation, as chairman. Other members include Permanent Secretaries of Ministries of Labour and Employment, Finance, Communication Tech & Digital Economy, Power, Permanent Secretary, Common Services Office, OHCSF, Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, OSGF and Solicitor General/Permanent Secretary Ministry of Justice.
The second sub-committee, which is to review the new agencies and parastatals created after the Oronsaye report, is headed by Ms Amal Pepple, a former Head of Service of the Federation and eight other members.
The committee is to, among other things, determine the need for the existence or otherwise of the new agencies/commissions/parastatals in the light of the exigencies of increasing cost of governance, eliminating, duplicating/overlap of functions of agencies.
Mustapha, represented by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Folasade Yemi-Esan, said high cost og governance had worsened government expenses while government agencies billed for mergers or scrapping had begun developing ways to serve as a major expenditure source to the government.
