Oronsaye report: Follow due process, Senators tell FG

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Senators have asked the Federal Government to follow the due process in implementing the Steve Oronsaye Committee report which recommended the scrapping and merging of many ministries, parastatals, agencies, commissions and boards in order to cut the cost of governance.

Recall that President Bola Tinubu, last February, directed the implementation of the report, though till date, there has yet to be released a list of scrapped or merged agencies effective from the date the directive was given.

On Tuesday, senators said that due process required the President to first forward to the National Assembly a comprehensive documentation of the agencies to be scrapped or merged for the repeal of the establishment laws.

They also stated that new legislation would be enacted to establish the agencies that would inherit the functions of those to be scrapped or merged to give legal backing to their existence.

Senators made the call as they debated a motion on the “Urgent Need to Halt the Violation of the National Film and Video Censors Board.”

The motion, which was moved by Sen. Ogoshi Onawo (Nasarawa-South), indicated that a presidential committee chaired by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, had started implementing the Oronsaye report without recourse to the Legislature.

According to Onawo, a cabinet memo signed by Akume, “directed to the Honorable Minister of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, mandated the immediate dissolution of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFCVB), which will now be integrated as a department within the ministry instead of operating as a separate federal agency.”

The motion further stated, “The Senate is concerned that the directive violates the National Film and Video Censors Board Act Cap No.40 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 (as amended. The process of winding down an agency of government which came into force through an Act of Parliament should first commence by the repeal of the Act establishing the said agency. The Oronsaye report is a committee report that should not override an Act of Parliament.

“Senate notes with deep concern that the ministry has been instructed to complete the administrative and financial processes to wind down the NFVCB within three weeks with effect from 21st June, 2024, and report back to the SGF’s office within the first month after it becomes a department of the ministry.”

Onawo maintained that the government’s move would amount to an “illegality” insofar as it was not referred to the National Assembly for the necessary legislative input.

In its resolution, the Senate advised the SGF and the minister to suspend the winding down of the National Film and Video Censors Board forthwith, if it’s true that the government had indeed commenced the scrapping of the NFVCB.

It also called for the immediate commencement of the process of repealing the Act establishing the board, “if need be.”

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Sen. Sani Musa (Niger-East), while contributing to the debate, argued that for any agency to be scrapped, the enabling law must first be repealed and another law passed to give a legal backing to the new agency inheriting its duties.

“This Senate has a responsibility to follow the due process, which is another way of supporting the decision of the FG to scrap some of the agencies”, he added

On his part, Sen. Eshilokun Wasiu-Sanni (Lagos-Central) urged the government to send the list of all the agencies to be scrapped or merged to the Senate for repeal in order to “ensure a smooth transition.”

However, the President of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, told his colleagues to tread with caution, especially since there was no evidence linking Akume’s memo to the Oronsaye committee report.

“There is no evidence to say the Presidency is already implementing the report.

“If they are implementing it, all the Acts will be brought before parliament for repeal in line with the due process.

“So, we can say that the parliament is not yet aware that the government is winding down any agency. When it wants to do so, it will follow the

due process”, Akpabio said.

The Oronsaye committee on Public Sector Reforms, which was set up by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, reported that there were 541 statutory and non-statutory federal government parastatals, commissions and agencies.

The committee’s 800-page report recommended that 263 of the statutory agencies be slashed to 161; 38 agencies be scrapped, 52 be merged and 14 be reverted to departments in various ministries.

Last February, the Tinubu administration declared that it would implement the report. His predecessors, Jonathan and President Muhammad Buhari, failed to implement the report.

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