The Federal Government has approved the merger of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NMA).
The government also approved the scrapping of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC).
The decision is contained in a Government White Paper on the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on the Restructuring and Rationalisation of Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies which was made available to State House Correspondents in Abuja on Monday.
The committee, headed by the former Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye, recommended on 16 April, 2012, that the Federal statutory agencies be reduced from 263 to 161.
The Federal Government rejected the recommendation for the merger of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (ICPC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) while it also rejected the renaming of Code of Conduct Tribunal as Anti Corruption Tribunal.
Similarly, the government rejected the recommendation of the merger of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and Voice of Nigeria (VON) into one body to be known as Federal Corporation Broadcasting of Nigeria (FCBN). However, the government further directed that NTA should be fully commercialised by 2013.
The government also rejected the recommendation that Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission be subsumed under the Bureau of Public Enterprises.
Similarly, the recommendation that the Act setting up FRSC be repealed was rejected as well as reverting FRSC to the Highways Department of the Federal Ministry of Works.
Also rejected was the recommendation that the enabling law of the National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS be repealed.
The committees recommendation that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria and Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission be abolished and their functions transferred to a Department under Ministry of Foreign Affairs was rejected.
Government rejected the recommendation that it should stop sponsoring pilgrims and pilgrimages with effect from 2012 Fiscal year.
The government also rejected the following: that the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) be abolished; that the law establishing the Border Communities Development Agency be repealed and its functions reverted to the National Boundary Commission; that it should disengage from funding current expenditure of National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) from 2015.
Also rejected was the merger of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and National Refugees Commission into one agency to be known as National Emergency Management and Refugees Commission; that the Debt Management Office becomes an extra ministerial department in the Federal Ministry of Finance and be delisted from the office of the Vice President.
Government rejected the privatisation of Federal Airports Authority of Nigerian (FAAN ) in view of the security situation of the country. It also rejected suggestion that Nigerian Communications commission, Nigerian Broadcasting commission and the regulatory functions of Nigerian Postal Service, be brought together under a unified management structure.
Government rejected the recommendation that the Act establishing the National Examinations Council be repealed and Council’s activities given to WAEC. It however, directed the Minister of Education to streamline the two bodies to ensure standards and integrity.
Recommendations that the National Business and Technical Examinations Board be repealed and the board’s activities given to WAEC was turned down.
It also rejected the re-introduction of tuition in its universities and rejected the abolition of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NEDRC).
It rejected recommendation that NDE and Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria be merged to form a single agency for wealth creation.
Government refused to scrap the Ministry of Police Affairs, Raw Materials Research and Development Council and Energy Commission of Nigeria and it also rejected proposal that the National Sports Commission be subsumed under the proposed Ministry of Youth and Sports Development as an agency.
That the Federal Civil Service Commission be renamed Federal Public Service Commission was discarded.
Government rejected the recommendation for the abolition of Federal Character Commission. It said the commission should be strengthened to perform its constitutional role and functions.
Why set up the Committee in the first instance when it is ‘known’ that its recommendations will be jettisoned? We need to know more of the accepted recommendations than the ones rejected.