The committee set up by President Goodluck Jonathan to restructure and rationalise the Federal Civil Service may have recommended a drastic pruning of the parastatals and agencies.
Although the committee, headed by a former Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Steve Oronsanye, was given eight weeks to conclude its work, its activities had been stalled by powerful interests in the society, who were pressurising the committee members.
As at Thursday, the committee had yet to submit its reports to the President, almost seven months after its inauguration.
SATURDAY PUNCH investigations showed that the pressure emanating from highly placed politicians in strategic places and other respected individuals was responsible for the delay in the conclusion of the work of the committee, which was inaugurated on August 18, 2011.
It was learnt that the prominent lobbyists had not been able to influence Oronsanye, who was said to be insisting that the core decisions taken during the committee’s meetings be respected and included as recommendations in a report to be submitted to the President.
However, it was learnt that some of the members of the committee were more disposed to ensuring that decisions taken were revisited and in some cases changed.
It was gathered that some of the heads of the parastatals and agencies, which were recommended for merger, might be providing the funding for the intense lobbying clogging the process of the committee’s assignment.
Investigations showed that Oronsanye and other members of the committee had agreed to ensure a drastic reduction of the parastatals and agencies believed to be saddled with the same responsibilities at a high cost to the government.
A member of the committee, who confided in our correspondent, said the committee identified 541 parastatals and agencies, which he described as too many.
Oronsanye and his committee members were said to have recommended a reduction of the number of parastatals and agencies from 541 to 168.
It was learnt that the committee’s decision implied the sacking of about 372 directors-general and executive secretaries.
A source said that the directors-general and executive secretaries would be left with no option but to be asked to go.
The source said that while some of the executive secretaries and directors-general were just appointed from outside the civil service, there were others who were made directors- general from the position of deputy director and director in the federal ministries.
It was learnt that the affected heads of the parastatals and agencies were being given the remuneration package of permanent secretaries in the federal ministries.
The source said that while those appointed from the ministries would find it difficult to be absorbed into the ministries as directors working under a permanent secretary, their counterparts appointed from outside the service had an entirely different background.
However, the source did not give the number of parastatals and agencies, which have been affected by the proposed mergers.
“You see, the problem of the committee is that decisions that have been taken after long hours of meetings are again being discussed because of pressure.
“A lot of interests are at work; many highly-placed Nigerians, those that you will refer to as political leaders, have joined people in lobbying the members of the committee.
“The work of the committee would have been concluded on time if not for these problems we are having. How can you talk of submitting a report when decisions are subject to change?
“No. You know that the chairman is very strong; the man is resolute and is insisting that decisions taken during meetings should be allowed to stay.
“We are recommending that the number of parastatals and agencies in the country totalling 541 is just unimaginably high and should be pruned down.
“In the meetings, it was agreed that there was no need to have parastatals and agencies doing just the same things resulting in a waste of public funds.
“It was, therefore, agreed that the number be pruned down from 541 to 168,” the source said.
The President had set up the committee on the restructuring and rationalisation of the Federal Government parastatals in accordance with the recommendations of the Presidential Advisory Committee led by Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, last year.
The PAC had recommended that non-ministerial agencies be pruned down to remove “overlap, duplications, redundancies and cost of governance.”
Apart from Oronsanye, other members of the committee are Mr. John Nwosu and Mr. Rabiu Abubakar, representing the Office of the Head of Service; Mr. A. Tijani (Trade Union Congress); Aminu Ibrahim (Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation); Hamza Tahir (Ministry of Justice); a Permanent Secretary, Femi Olayefemi, and Mallam Nasir Adamu.
While inaugurating the committee, the President mandated its members to examine the enabling acts of the federal parastatals and agencies with a view to identifying areas where functions were duplicated as part of the moves by the FG to cut down the abominable cost of governance in the country.
The FG took the decision to set up the committee because of the heavy financial implications involved in the maintenance of the 541 parastatals and agencies believed to be overlapping.
The committee was saddled with the responsibility of making sectoral classification of the parastatals and agencies and to come up with recommendations on how the enabling acts could be reviewed.
Further investigations showed that some agencies and Federal Government establishments were locked in a fierce fight in their proposals to the committee.
via Punch
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