The committee inaugurated to produce a white paper on the review of new Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions created in 2012 after the submission of the Stephen Oronsaye report has urged the Federal Government to liaise with the National Assembly to streamline the creation of new PACs.
It added that it observed that the legal framework of some of the PACs did not clearly define the structure, management and oversight, recommending an amendment of the law.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan had in 2011 set up a committee to rationalise and restructure federal government parastatals, commissions and agencies, which was headed by Oronsaye.
The committee submitted its report in 2012, recommending the merger, conversion and scrapping of some agencies of government. The White paper committee set up by the administration rejected most of the recommendations, while those accepted were not implemented.
In November 2021, the apex government inaugurated two committees; one of the committees was to review the Steve Orosanye report and its White Paper chaired by Goni Aji, a retired Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
The second committee was constituted to review agencies created from 2014 till date, chaired by Amal Pepple, also a retired Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
Upon submission of their reports, the government in July 2022 set up another committee chaired by Engr. Ebele Okeke, a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to produce a white paper on the reports.
Speaking during the presentation of the white paper to the Secretary of the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha in Abuja, Okeke stressed that it was important to discuss with the leadership of the National Assembly to achieve the desired result, adding that most of the agencies created were products of bills from the Nation Assembly.
She said, “The committee observed that 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 interchangeably. 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, the Committee recommended change in status/name, amendment of the Act/Law.
“The committee 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 National Assembly 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 SGF reiterated the government’s commitment to repositioning the public service for effective service delivery, assuring Nigerians that the White Paper would be given all the necessary attention.
