No timeline yet for implementation of Oronsaye Report – Gbajabiamila

The Federal Government has revealed that the Steve Oronsaye report, aimed at reducing the size and cost of government, has yet to be implemented.

Femi Gbajabiamila, President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, confirmed this on Tuesday, saying he could not provide an exact timeline for implementation.

Gbajabiamila, during his visit to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) headquarters in Abuja, disclosed that FG is working out all necessary modalities to ensure a smooth run of the policy when it is implemented.

He noted the need for thoroughness before implementing the report, saying “anything worth doing is worth doing properly.”

“Oronsaye’s report is being worked upon. Yes, we’ve been talking about this for months now but anything worth doing is worth doing properly,”  Gbajabiamila said.

“It is not as easy as it sounds. A committee has been set up looking at it and I am sure very soon, the final report will be out and implementation will begin.

“I can’t get give an exact timeline but soon…We don’t want to sacrifice thoroughness on the altar of anxiety or anxiousness of getting things done. It will be done soon.”

Earlier this year, the president approved the implementation of the long-shelved Steven Oronsaye Report, which aimed to reduce the size and costs of the federal government.

The Oronsaye report, which was submitted in 2012, recommended that several government agencies be merged or closed in order to reduce costs and improve efficiency.

However, previous administrations failed to implement its recommendations fully.

The Oronsaye report, formally titled “Cost of Governance: Adjusting the Structures,” was commissioned by the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2011.

The committee, in its report, recommended that of the 541 Statutory and Non-Statutory Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies and Commissions, 263 statutory agencies should be reduced to 161, 38 agencies should be abolished, 52 agencies should be merged, and 14 should revert to departments in ministries.

Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga had also announced that the implementation means that “many agencies will be scrapped and many others will be merged to a leaner government.”

But the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris,  had assured Nigerians that the implementation of the Oronsaye Report will not lead to job losses.

Idris noted that the report’s implementation aims to “reduce cost and also improve efficiency in service delivery,” not to lay off staff.

“The whole idea is that government wants to reduce cost and also improve efficiency in service delivery. It does not mean that government is out to retrench workers or throw people into the labour market,” Idris said.