Orasanye’s report: FG scraps NAPEP *spares NECO, JAMB,NABTEB *approves the merger of Aviation parastatals The Federal Government has approved the scrapping of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC). The decision was contained in a white paper released yesterday by the Presidency on the report of the Presidential committee on restructuring and rationalisation of Federal Government parastatals, commissions and agencies. In the 105-page document, government, however, rejected recommendations by the committee for the merger of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) into one single agency. The presidential committee, which was headed by former Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Stephen Oronsaye, had submitted its report to President Goodluck Jonathan on April 16, 2012 and recommended the reduction of the existing 263 government’s statutory agencies in the country to 161. According to the white paper, the presidential committee had recommended that NAPEP be scrapped and its functions transferred to the new body (to be known as National Agency for Job Creation and Empowerment, NAJCE) that will emerge from the fusion of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). Government in considering the report, however, accepted the scrapping of NAPEP only and rejected the merger of NDE and SMEDAN. The Federal Government also accepted the recommendation of the report that the trio of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) be merged into a new body to be known as the Federal Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA) and their respective enabling laws be amended accordingly to reflect the merger. It also accepted that the enabling law of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCTA) be amended and the college restructured. The recommendation by the committee that government should sell off its shares in NIGCOMSAT was also accepted. Government has, therefore, directed for its minority shares in the organisation to be retained. It also accepted that the functions of NIGCOMSAT that relates to space development be reverted that the National Space Development Agency. The white paper shows that government accepted the committee’s report to stop the funding of the Nigerian Financial Reporting Council with effect from 2015. Governments also accepted that JAMB should continue to exists as the central examination body for admissions into Nigerian universities and directs that it must play its regulatory role to ensure that all students for undergraduate admissions into Nigerian universities must pass through JAMB including direct entries. In the white paper, government accepted that the function of the Nigerian Institute for Education Planners and Administrators ( NIEPA) be merged with those of the National Teachers Institute. It also accepted the recommendation that the funding of the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria. Other recommendations accepted include that the Nigerian Film Corporation be commercialised from 2013 fiscal year but with government seed funding, that all offices of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies outside Lagos and Abuja be closed down immediately to ensure judicious use of available resources in line with government policy; that National Council of Arts and Culture be merged with the National Troupe and the National Theatre into one agency called National Council of Arts and Culture As approved in the white paper, government accepted that the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) be self-funding from 2014 while the allegation made by the National Boundaries Commission against the office of the Surveyor General of the Federation over the funding of two non-existent boundary demarcation be properly investigated. It also directed that the revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission to perform the function of Fiscal Responsibility Commission and that the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission’s enabling law be repealed and the functions of the commission be subsumed under Revenue Mobilisation And Fiscal Commission. With the development, RMAFC’s enabling laws will be amended to accommodate the functions of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission and the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission. While government accepted the management audit of the National Institute for Sports, but rejected the recommendation for an amendment in name and status of the Federal Civil Service Commission to the Federal Public Service Commission, it, however, accepted the recommendation of a single term of five years for the Chairman and members of the commission. It rejected the renaming of Code of Conduct Tribunal to Anti- Corruption Tribunal. It further rejected the recommendation that Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission be subsumed under the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) for greater synergy. Other recommendations that were turned down by government were recommendation of the merger of NTA, FRCN and VON into one body to be known as Federal Corporation Broadcasting of Nigeria (FCBN). Rather, it directed that NTA be fully commercialised by 2013. The white paper also shows that government rejected the idea of the abolition of Federal Character Commission but directed that the commission be strengthened to perform its constitutional role and functions. It further rejected recommendations that the Nigerian Atomic Energy Commission be located as a parastatal in the Ministry of Power and that the Public Complaints Commission (PCC) be abolished. Other recommendations rejected include that the law establishing the Border Communities Development Agency be repealed and its functions reverted to the National Boundary Commission It also rejected the recommendation that government should disengage from funding current expenditure of National Institute on Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) from the 2015 fiscal year and limit itself to certain essential capital requirement of the institute. Government also rejected the merger of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the National Refugees Commission into one agency to be known as the National Emergency Management and Refugees Commission and rejected the recommendation for the Debt Management Office to become an extra ministerial department in the Federal Ministry of Finance and be delisted from the office of the Vice President It also rejected the recommendation that the Act setting up Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) be repealed and be reverted to the Highways Department of the Federal Ministry of Works A recommendation that the enabling law of the National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS be repealed was also thrown out
Posted on: Tue, 08 Apr 2014 08:51:04 +0000