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This expose on the powers and influence of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, OSGF will show that the office is very powerful, and President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu must get it right by appointing an unblemished individual and one that can be trusted.
In the opaque world of Nigeria’s politics, the undercurrents in the ensuing contestation for the job are already setting a tone for the type of power play that may herald the Tinubu administration.
The responsibilities of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, OSGF, are enormous.
More specifically, the office undertakes the following responsibilities:-
i) Coordinating policy design and formulation by Ministries, Departments and Agencies for approval by Government;
ii) Serving as Secretary to the Council of State, the Federal Executive Council and other Constitutional Councils, which are chaired by the President;
iii) Coordinating the activities of Ministries and Government Agencies on the implementation of Government decisions, policies and programmes;
iv) Dealing with constitutional, political and socio-economic matters as may be referred to the Presidency;
v) Administrative Tribunals, Commissions and Panels of Enquiry;
vi) Coordinating national security and public safety matters;
vii) National Honours Award;
viii) Prerogative of Mercy;
ix) Protocol Matters;
x) Channeling of papers and directives of the President;
xi) Processing and granting Government approval for Overseas Tours, Intergovernmental Meetings/Conferences, medical check-up/treatment by Public Officers;
xii) Processing requests for Overseas Duty Tours/Conferences including medical check-up/treatment abroad for members of the Judiciary, Chairmen and Members of Statutory Commissions/Bodies for approval by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
xiii) Coordinating the appointments to Headship of Statutory Bodies, Commissions and Agencies by the President;
xiv) Dealing with matters relating to conditions of service of political office holders;
xv) Intergovernmental Affairs and relations with State and Local Governments;
xvi) Liaison with Secretaries to State Governments;
xvii) Allocation of Office accommodation to Political Office Holders.
But, that is not all that he does. In terms of the structure of that office, there is more.
In discharging the aforementioned responsibilities, the OSGF is structured into the following offices, each headed by a Permanent Secretary. There are six such offices:
Cabinet Secretariat;
General Services Office;
Political Affairs Office;
Economic Affairs Office;
Special Services Office;
Special Duties Office.
Then there are the supervisory roles that have also been lumped together in that office and the list is legion.
The following Parastatals/Agencies are supervised by the OSGF as listed in that 2011 document:
(i) Ecological Fund;
(ii) National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP);
(iii) National Economic Intelligence Committee;
(iv) Presidential Advisory Council;
(v) Code of Conduct Tribunal;
(vi) Code of Conduct Bureau;
(vii) Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency;
(viii) National Hospital;
(ix) Federal Road Safety Commission;
(x) National Commission for Refugees;
(xi) Nigerian National Volunteer Service (NNVS);
(xii) Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC);
(xiii) South-South Health Care Programme;
(xiv) National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA);
(xv) National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC);
(xvi) Ministry of Special Duties;
(xvii) Secretariat of the Presidential Council (PAC);
(xviii) Secretariat of the Presidential Committee on National Identification Systems, Consumer Credit and Outsourcing initiative;
(xix) Galaxy backbone;
(xx) NIMC;
(xxi) Christian Pilgrims Commission;
(xxii) National Hajj Commission.
Peoplesmind
