There are indications that the Federal Government may not implement the report of the Steve Oronsaye Committee on rationalisation of the federal civil service, about 11 years after it was produced.
Experts blamed the absence of political will to implement the report, despite the establishment of several committees to review and evolve strategies for its implementation.
Against the backdrop of dwindling revenue and increasing cost of governance, the government had in August 2011 inaugurated the Steve Oronsaye Committee on rationalisation of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government.
The committee submitted its report on April 16, 2012, recommending reduction in the number of the MDAs, from 263 to 161 to reduce cost of governance in the country.
In 2014, the Federal Government inaugurated the Mohammed Adoke Committee to, among other things, “design guidelines, ensure effective coordination and monitoring of the implementation process; supervise, consider and decide on the recommendations of the four sub-committees on the implementation of the White Paper; and to advise government on any other matter(s) that would further facilitate the achievement of the key objectives for the restructuring and rationalisation of federal government’s agencies and parastatals, agencies, and commissions to be rationalised”.
The report of that committee was abandoned after the emergence of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in May 2015.
Reports by the Budget Office of the Federation indicate that Nigeria is facing increasing deficits as it has spent N29.3 trillion between 2011 and 2021 on non-debt recurrent expenditure.
The Federal Government’s cumulative earnings for the same period was put at N33.2 trillion, according to statistics compiled by the Budget Office on budget implementation.
The report also shows a high recurrent expenditure at 50.6 percent of budgetary expenditures or 88.5 percent of revenue, including those spent on personnel costs, pensions, and gratuities, service-wide votes, and overheads.
The Budget Office indicated that while the Federal Government was recording a budget deficit, averaging N1.1 trillion every year from 2009, driven mainly by the increase in the recurrent expenditures, the figures rose to an average of N3.3 trillion under the Buhari administration, forcing the government to increase borrowing to meet the increasing demands.
The recurrent expenditures rose from N2.65 trillion in 2016 to N6.83 trillion in the 2022 budget.
This month, the Federal Government inaugurated a white paper committee to review MDAs created since 2014.
Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation, while inaugurating the committee, expressed concerns over the increasing cost of governance especially with revenue challenges in the country.
He said the “inability to implement the report of the Committee on Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Agencies and Commission is costing the government highly”.
“This cost grows higher and the situation is further worsened by the fact that new agencies are being created,” he said.
He recalled how the government, in November 2021, inaugurated two committees, to review the Steve Orosanye report and its White Paper, and to review new agencies created from 2014 to date.
The new committee is expected to ensure the implementation of recommendations that will deliver increasing benefits over time in terms of efficiency and effectiveness.
It is also expected to ensure that “gains of the MDAs and their productive capacities within a framework are reinforced through efficiency, diligence and hard work”.
Dasuki Arabi, director-general of the Bureau for Public Service Reforms, said at a recent event that the Federal Government had started a gradual implementation of Stephen Orosanye’s report.
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But Kachi Ononuju, director of the Heritage Center, Abuja and head of the Ohanaeze Political Think-tank, dismissed claims that the report was being implemented.
“It is not debatable that this government lacked the needed political will to implement the report. The government has all through this administration relied on borrowing to fund recurrent expenditures. You don’t borrow to fund consumption,” he said.
Ononuju said the Orosanye reports would have prevented the current heavy recurrent expenditures if it was timely implemented.
He said: “We are now spending up to 98 percent of our income to pay salaries, settle non-performing loans and other recurrent expenditures. No one is expecting anything good anymore from this government. What is needed now is to take the anger away from this government and focus on the political process.
“It was meant to address multiplication of government offices and reduce costs of inefficiency, but the incompetence in the Buhari’s government has actually help to reunite Nigerians.”
Auwal Ibrahim (Rafsanjani), executive director of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, said President Buhari could still use the remaining period of his administration to clean up and implement the report.
“My advice is that they should do a last-minute intervention to prevent the government from collapsing. The President can still use the time left to act on this report,” he said.
Ibrahim said Nigerians had placed too much hope on President Buhari, adding that the government was “consumed by their own internal contradictions”.
He said: “The report was to reduce waste, inefficiency, including reduction of expenditures that have no direct impact on the people. But the political will wasn’t there.
“Government can still redeem its image by moving quickly to implement the report, if it wants to salvage the economy.”
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