AS part of measures to reduce the cost of governance, the
incoming administration of Muhammadu Buhari may retain only 19
ministries from the present 31.
Consequently, most of the
candidates being considered for the federal executive council (FEC) will
end up as ministers of state, after all.
Besides, the
president-elect is said to be considering the feasibility of announcing
his Chief of Staff, Principal Secretary and a handful of Special
Advisers before Friday so that there can be some semi-official interface
between the outgoing government and the incoming one in the context of
handing over of tangible assets in the State House.
The Guardian
was told last night that there is one mind in all policy advisory
committee members that the number of the ministries should be pruned to
about twenty as part of over-all strategy to reduce high cost of
governance in Abuja.
It was learned that the
cost-of-governance-reduction strategy is not by intuition or a flash in
the pan as various advisory committees of the new governing Party, the
All Progressive Congress (APC) have been considering the new deal for
some time.
Besides, The Guardian confirmed that President-elect,
Buhari, is fully persuaded too that he would not be able to deliver on
promises without shedding the weight of the federal bureaucracy and
indeed the number of ministries and agencies of government that consume
the more than 70 per cent of the federal budget through the recurrent
expenditure instrument.
The Guardian was told too that the
Stephen Oronsaye’s report of 2012, a comprehensive blueprint on the
fundamentals of reduction of cost of governance has become handy for the
technocrats crafting working papers for the in-coming administration.
It
was gathered too that the former Head of Service, Oronsaye, has been
consulted on the report details that the outgoing administration has
failed to implement.
Specifically, Ahmed Joda, chairman of
the transition committee of the APC has collected a copy of the Oronsaye
panel report from the former Principal Secretary/Permanent Secretary
State House, (Oronsaye) himself. The former Permanent Secretary, Finance
confirmed the development on telephone last night.
In the same
vein, a retired federal permanent secretary, who was pioneer
director-general the federal government’s reform bureau, has just
completed a book in which a cost-of-governance reduction strategy too is
a major chapter. Specifically, the book on the expediency of radical
reform of the civil service recommends 18 ministries, among other
features that the advisers of the APC and the president-elect are said
to have adopted. The book, which will be publicly presented in June this
year is said to have raised some dust on so many other issues including
the tenure policy that Oronsaye’s regime as head of service adopted;
the office of the First Lady and even the controversial designation of
“Coordinating Minister for the Economy”.
The Guardian was told
that the author of the book on reform too has spoken to the Joda
Committee on the policy thrust of the administration, which is likely to
touch on the quality
Federal bureaucracy.
Meanwhile, The
Guardian gathered from well-placed sources close to the president
elect’s men that the expediency of getting some vital information pieces
from the outgoing president’s men may compel him to name a few personal
aides ahead of inauguration. Sources said to us last night that the
president-elect is concerned about paucity of information about certain
issues that need to be physically inspected before taking over, although
the handing over notes were submitted on Monday to the Ahmed Joda’s
transition committee by the outgoing vice president, Namadi Sambo.
Concerns
have been raised about how the Buhari’s imminent administration can
implement a constitutional provision that stipulates a minister per
state (36 states & Abuja) within the context of reducing ministries
to less than 20. But legal experts have noted that the constitution does
not state that there should be 36 ministries to cover the 36
ministerial nominees.
As an insider put it to this newspaper last
night: “In the APC’s administration that Buhari will run from Friday,
there will be more ministers of state. According to a reform agenda that
the Yar’Adua’s government put in place, all ministers are equal:
ministers are ministers and their remuneration package should be
uniform. The Obasanjo’s administration had on the eve of departure in
2007 reduced federal ministries to19. But the Yar’Adua’s administration
reversed the policy and returned to the status quo.
In the new deal being considered, there may be the following structure as examples of merger of ministries:
1. Ministry of Interior (to include Police Affairs)
2. Ministry of Transportation (to include Works, Aviation, Railways, Waterways/Transport
3. Agriculture & Water Resources, etc.
4. Ministry of Information, Youth Development & Culture
5. Ministry of Trade, Investment & Tourism, etc.
Niger Delta Ministry may be replaced with Ministry for Regional Development. Women Affairs, Special Duties may be scrapped.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/05/president-elect-considers-only-19-ministries/
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