Oronsaye Report outdated, says Shehu Sani

A former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, has said that the Oronsaye Report is so obsolete that it needs to be updated before the government can implement it. The Oronsaye Report, which was commissioned in 2012, was aimed at rationalising and restructuring federal government parastatals, commissions, departments and agencies. However, Sani argued that the report had […]

A former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani, has said that the Oronsaye Report is so obsolete that it needs to be updated before the government can implement it.

The Oronsaye Report, which was commissioned in 2012, was aimed at rationalising and restructuring federal government parastatals, commissions, departments and agencies.

However, Sani argued that the report had become obsolete due to the proliferation of new agencies and commissions since its inception.

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Speaking during a chat on Channels Television, he said that legislators’ performance was often measured by the number of bills they sponsored or the creation of federal agencies and commissions resulting from their initiatives, thereby leading to a high number of federal agencies and commissions in the country.

He noted that the approach did not align with the country’s economic realities.

He said, “Most of these commissions were created by the National Assembly. When you are elected into office as a senator or as a member of the House of Representatives, one of the factors that they use to gauge your performance or stewardship in office is the number of bills you are able to sponsor, or the number of federal agencies that came out of your bills.

“And as such, you see every year, legislators come out with all sorts of ideas about commissions and agencies and boards and bureaus. But we don’t take cognizance of the fact that we are a poor country. A nation of 224 million people with such little resources.

“Some of the agencies that we created in this country are so irrelevant and useless. And it’s time that we implemented this report.

“But Oronsaye Report could have been updated. The President could have invited Oronsaye and his committee and said, ‘Update your report based on the new commissions and agencies that have been created after your report.’ Because as it’s now, the report is outdated.

“If you live in Abuja today, there’s hardly any street you will move without seeing an agency you never knew before. It’s either one commission on this or an agency on that.

“Now, look at the number of the agencies that came after Oronsaye Report. So if you look at what’s being done now, it’s simply ‘Let’s implement this without thinking that it has gone out of date.’

“So, the best thing now is to invite Oronsaye and ask him to update his report and then the government can implement it.”

The Oronsaye Report was formulated in 2011 by the then-President Goodluck Jonathan under the Presidential Committee on the Rationalization and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, and Agencies.

The committee, led by Stephen Oronsaye, embarked on an extensive review of existing government entities to identify inefficiencies and redundancies.

In the 800-page document, the committee’s findings culminated in a report that recommended significant changes.

Among its proposals are the scrapping and merging of 220 out of the then-existing 541 government agencies.

The report aimed to streamline governance, reduce costs, and enhance efficiency.