Federal Government of Nigeria has received the Draft White Paper on Orosanye reports which was submitted by the committee on restructuring and rationalisation of Federal Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions between 2012 and 2021.
Gatekeepers News reports that the FG had on July 1st, inaugurated the White Paper Drafting Committee to examine and evaluate the findings and recommendations contained in the Report of the Committee on the Review of New Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions (PACs). The committee was saddled with the responsibility to also develop an implementation plan and key performance indicators.
On Thursday, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, received the reports from the committee headed by Ebele Okeke, a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
Mustapha assured the Committee and Nigerians that the Draft White Paper will be given all the necessary attention. He also commended the Committee for being able to complete the assignment within the 6-week timeline given to them, which according to him, demonstrate the seriousness and passion members conducted the work.
Okeke, while presenting the report, said the Committee, while carrying out the assignment, “considered the current economic challenges and the requirement for and the requirement for Government to utilize resources more efficiently in order to reduce cost of governance; the need to develop diverse sources of revenue for Government as well as encourage some Agencies of Government to be self-funding; the principle of building strong institutions to guarantee service delivery to the populace and the imperative to grow the economy, create employment and stay on the critical path to achieve development objectives.
“It is worth mentioning that the Committee co-opted Dr. Ochi C. Achinivu, a retired Federal Permanent Secretary, to assist in its assignment of the White Paper Drafting Committee sought and received the counsel of subject matter Experts including retired Heads of the Civil Service of the Federation, serving and retired Permanent Secretaries during its deliberations.
“Also, carried out content analysis of the legal framework setting up the PAS under review, analysis of the budgetary provisions of the PACs for the period under consideration. The potential for the PACS to be self-funding Over a reasonable period of time as well as access to International sources of
funding technology to build up capacity and technical expertise to be self-sustaining were also considered.”
On its observations during the assignment, Okeke said “the legal framework/enabling Act of some of the PACs did not clearly define structure, management and oversight. Most of the laws used Agency, Commission and Board inter-changeably. For instance, where the organization is defined as a Commission, the provisions of the law did not support the structure of a Commission. In this regard, where the Committee recommended change in status/name, amendment of the Act/Law 1s also recommended, accordingly.
“The Committee also observed that most of the agencies created (especially under Education and Health) were Bills that emanated from the National Assembly. It is therefore, important to engage and dialogue with the NASS to generate an understanding to streamline the creation of new PACs.
“It is noteworthy that some of the recommendations can be considered as low hanging fruits that can be implemented immediately after approval of the White Paper.
“The Draft White Paper is made up of three parts: Part I has Introduction and Purpose, Part II shows the PACs, the Recommendations and Remarks of the Review Committee, Comments and Recommendations by this Committee for consideration of the Federal Government. Part III is the Implementation Plan and Key Performance Indicators.”
