The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed to pressmen after Monday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Monday, 26th February 2024, that the federal government (FG) is considering merging the nation’s top three anti-corruption agencies—the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Code of Conduct Bureau.
According to Mohammed Idris, aside from the top three anti-corruption agencies, President Bola Tinubu has ordered the full implementation of the Oronsaye report. He added that agencies will be subsumed, scraped, and relocated.
In addition to what Mr. Idris disclosed, the president Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Mrs Hadiza Bala-Usman, also noted that a committee has been constituted to see through the implementation of the mergers, scrapping, and relocations, and is expected to report back within 12 weeks.
It can be recalled that during President Goodluck Jonathan's administration, a Presidential Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, and Agencies was set up under the leadership of former Head of Civil Service, Stephen Oronsaye.
On completion of the task, the committee curated an 800-page report which recommended the slashing of 263 federal agencies to 161, 38 to be scrapped, 52 to be merged, and 14 to be reverted to departments in various ministries.
Also contained in the report, laws establishing the National Salaries and Wages Commission will be voided while its functions will taken over by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Responsibility Commission.
