The Federal Government on Monday released the White Paper on the report of the Presidential Committee on the Rationalization and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies.
In the white paper, the Federal Government rejected most of the recommendations made by the committee, headed by a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Steve Oronsanye while it approved a few others.
The Committee which was set up by federal government as part of its moves to reduce the amount spent on recurrent expenditure had in its report submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan on April 16, 2012 recommended the reduction of the existing 263 government’s statutory agencies in the country to 161.
The Committee had advised that to reduce cost of governance, government should abolish 38 agencies, merge 52 others and revert 14 agencies to the status of departments in the relevant ministries.
But in the white paper released on Monday, the government agreed to the recommendation of the Committee to scrap the National Poverty Eradication Programme and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission, among others.
As recommended, the White Paper directed that the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission should perform the function of Fiscal Responsibility Commission.
The Federal Government also accepted the recommendation that Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA; Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NIMET, be merged into a new body to be known as the Federal Civil Aviation Authority, FCAA, while their respective enabling laws are to be amended accordingly to reflect the merger.
It, however, rejected the recommendation of the committee that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other offences Commission, ICPC, the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Code of Conduct be merged.
These were the highlights of the report of the white paper drafting committee on the recommendations of the committee which was made available to State House correspondents.
The government also rejected the privatization of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigerian, FAAN, in view of the security situation in the country.
It rejected the recommendation that the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, NBC, and the regulatory functions of Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST, be brought together under a unified management structure to be known as the Communications Regulatory Authority of Nigeria.
The recommendation that the NTA, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and Voice of Nigeria be merged into one body, to be known as Federal Corporation Broadcasting of Nigeria, FCBN, was also rejected.
It was, however, approved that the NTA be fully commercialized by 2015.
Other recommendations rejected by the government were the re-introduction of tuition fees in its universities; the abolition of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, NEDRC, and the merger of the National Directorate of Employment and Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, to form a single agency for wealth creation.
The recommendation that the Ministry of Police Affairs be scrapped was rejected, while the recommendation that the National Programme for the Eradication of Poverty be sustained was accepted by the government.
Recommendations accepted by the federal government include the scrapping of the National Poverty Eradication Programme NAPEP, the abolition of the Utilities Charges Commission and the full commercialization of National Agricultural Insurance Corporation
It rejected that the Act of the National Business and Technical Examinations Board be repealed and the Boards activities be returned to WAEC.
so rejected that the National Sports Commission revert to the proposed Ministry of Youth and Sports Development as an agency but approved the management audit of the National Institute for Sports.
