President Bola Tinubu Orders Full Implementation of Oronsaye Report

After years of advocacy from Nigerians, President Bola Tinubu has directed the comprehensive execution of the Oronsaye report.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made this announcement to the State House correspondents post the Federal Executive Council meeting at the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja.

The Oronsaye report came into existence during President Goodluck Jonathan‘s administration in 2012 through the formation of the Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, and Agencies.

Chaired by the retired civil servant and former Head of Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye, the committee proposed the scrapping and merging of 220 out of the then existing 541 government agencies.

If fully implemented, over 102 heads of agencies and parastatals stand to lose their positions.

The extensive 800-page report highlighted the overlapping functions of the government’s parastatals and agencies.

The report identified discrepancies in the legal framework/enabling Act of some of the PACs, noting that the laws used terms like agency, commission, and board interchangeably without clear definitions.

The committee recommended a change in status/name and amendment of the Act/Law to align structural management and oversight.

It pointed out that most agencies, especially under Education and Health, were created through Bills from the National Assembly, emphasizing the need for dialogues to streamline the creation of new PACs.

Noting that some recommendations could be swiftly executed after the approval of the white paper, particularly those considered as low-hanging fruits.