Falana said the 12-year-old report had been overtaken by many events and the creation of more ministries and agencies.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana has described the Steve Oronsaye Report recommending the merger of Nigerian government agencies and commissions as “completely outdated”.
Falana said the 12-year-old report had been overtaken by many events and the creation of more ministries and agencies.
The list of government agencies to be scrapped or merged following a directive given by President Bola Tinubu was released on Monday by his Special Adviser Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Peoplesmind had reported how Tinubu ordered the full implementation of the 2012 Steve Oronsaye report.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan established the presidential committee on government agency reform in 2011, which was chaired by Steven Oronsaye, the Federation’s former Head of Service.
Its terms of reference had included among other things, reviewing the enabling Acts and mandates of all federal agencies, parastatals, and commissions to identify areas of overlap or duplication of functions.
The committee had recommended reducing 263 statutory agencies to 161, abolishing 38, merging 52, and reverting 14 to departments in ministries. However, a white paper committee led by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mohammed Adoke rejected the majority of the recommendations.
In 2021, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated two committees to implement the report. One of the committees, headed by a former Head of Service, Bukar Aji, was mandated to review the Oronsaye Report and the government white paper.
The other committee, chaired by Amal Pepple, was mandated to review MDAs created between 2014 and 2021.
Peoplesmind