Fed Govt: implementation of Orosanye Report will cut cost of governance By Bolaji Ogundele

• Ex-HoCSF Aji, Amal Pepple head sub-committees on MDAs The Federal Government has decried the delay in the implementation of the report of former Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HoCSF), Stephen Osagiede Oransanye, on restructuring and rationalisation of its agencies and departments. Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, expressed government’s concerns yesterday during the inauguration of two sub-committees on the report in Abuja. One of the committees is on the implementation of government’s White Paper on restructuring and rationalisation of Federal corporations, agencies and commissions. The other is on the review of new corporations, agencies and commissions created after the submission of the report on restructuring. The SGF, who was represented by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan, noted that the failure to implement the Orosanye Report had continued to put high governance cost on the Federal Government. Mustapha said the White Paper on the Oransanye Report was issued and published in March 2014 and was followed by a White Paper Implementation Committee inaugurated in May of the same year. The SGF said for several reasons, most of which were anchored on political expediency, the White Paper had not only rejected a large number of the recommendations but also noted an equally greater number of others. He added that even those accepted were not implemented. Mustapha said Nigeria has been suffering from daily increase in high cost of governance underpinned by high personnel and overhead costs to the detriment of having adequate resources for development projects. Stressing that the need for cutting down the cost of governance cannot be more compelling than now, especially in the face of the nation’s dwindling revenue, the SGF said there is need to unburden Federal Government as a cost centre and as a revenue generator. He said: “For a long time now, the country has been struggling to make sure that at least 30 per cent of its annual budget goes into capital projects. “You would all agree with me that the inability to implement the report of the Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions are costing government highly. “This cost grows higher for every delay that the implementation suffers. This is further worsened by the fact that immediately after the report was released, parastatals and agencies billed for mergers or scrapping began developing means of further entrenching themselves as a major expenditure source to the government. “Furthermore, new agencies were also created to compound the situation.” “At this juncture, permit me to say that besides the impropriety of Government funding professional associations, the underlying principles for restructuring and rationalising these government agencies remain more urgent now than when the initial committee was constituted in 2011.” He said the committee should proffer time-based recommendations, not exceeding one year, on restructuring and rationalisation, if deemed appropriate of the new agencies.