Oronsaye Report: Jaja appointed consultant for Special Committee on Restructuring of Nigerian Govt MDAs

In line with moves to implement the Stephen Oronsaye Report, the House of Representatives Special Committee on Restructuring of Federal Agencies and Commissions has engaged a legislative drafting expert, Dr Clinton Tonye Jaja, as a consultant.

The appointment was announced by the Chairman of the Special Committee on Restructuring of Federal Agencies and Commissions, Ibrahim Isiaka (APC-Ogun).

Jaja, Secretary of the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners, ALDRAP, is to provide legislative drafting services for the committee, particularly in the drafting of Bills that are required to give effect to the recommendations of the Oronsaye Report which involves merger of some ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, or outright repeal of the legislation that establishes some MDAs.

He will serve the committee in areas such as legislative research on bills, legislative drafting services, provision of digital searchable copies of the 2012 Oronsaye Report and accompanying White Papers, and general legal advice.

President Bola Tinubu in February 2024 ordered the implementation of the Oronsaye Report, which recommended the merger and scrap of some Federal Government MDAs towards cutting down the cost of governance.

Since its submission in 2012, the Federal Government has grappled with the best approach to implement the Oronsaye Report.

Different committees, including those headed by Ebele Okeke Report and Ama Pepple, were established to provide guidance on the implementation of the report. The committees also submitted reports which contained recommendations on how to implement the Oronsaye Report.

However, recognising the need for a legislative component as a necessity to achieve implementation of the Oronsaye Report, the National Assembly recently established a Special Committee for Restructuring of Federal Government MDAs.

Chairman of the Special Committee on Restructuring of Federal Agencies and Commissions, Isiaka, had invited all critical stakeholders for a one day public hearing on 10th July 2024 in line with the committee’s task of reviewing the Oronsaye Report towards its implementation.

The public hearing was organized to review of the Oronsanye Report and other white papers on the restructuring of Federal Government MDAs.

Isiaka further explained that the House of Representatives constituted the Special Committee on Restructuring of Federal Agencies and Commissions to address the pressing need to review the Oronsanye Report and all other white papers on the restructuring of Federal Government establishments.

The lawmaker further stated that 1,310 MDAs had been penciled down for rationalization by the committee based on the Oronsanye Report.

According to Isiaka, the report highlighted various recommendations aimed at rationalizing and optimizing the operations of government agencies to enhance efficiency and cost effectiveness.

He further explained that through the review process, the Special Committee on Restructuring of Federal Agencies and Commissions intends to identify redundancies, duplications, inefficiencies and areas of improvement among the MDAs of the Federal Government.

DAILY POST also reports that President Bola Tinubu had in March 2024 inaugurated an 11-member committee tasked with executing the recommendations outlined in the Oronsaye Report.

The committee includes the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; the Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi; the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu; the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan; and Hadiza Bala-Usman, who serves as the Special Adviser to the President on Policy and Coordination.

Others in the committee are Dr. Dasuki Arabi, Director-General of the Bureau of Public Service Reform; Sen. Abdullahi Abubakar-Gumel, the President’s Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate); Ibrahim Olarenwaju; Hakeem Muri-Okunola, Principal Secretary to the President, and Richard P. Pheelangwa, Permanent Secretary to the Cabinet Office.