Oronsaye’s Committee Report: 220 Federal Parastatals Endangered

Not less than 220 Federal parastatals, commissions and agencies are likely to be scrapped in line with the recommendations of the White Paper Committee on the Stephen Oronsaye’s Report which the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has now begun  its consideration.

The issue preoccupied Wednesday’s meeting of the Council presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan with the Presidency, however, assuring that there was no need for anxiety as the federal government was not embarking on the exercise for the sake of throwing workers out of their jobs.

Briefing State House correspondents after the meeting, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, revealed that the Council began the discussion and review of the draft White Paper of the Presidential Committee on the Restructuring and Rationalization of Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies report.

Abati emphasized that no decision has been taken on the matter but noted that the White Paper Committee looked at a total of 541 agencies and accepted 321, leaving out 220.

According to him, “Council began a review of the report of the Presidential Committee on the Restructuring and Rationalization of Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies in what is popularly referred to as the Oronsaye committee.

“The draft White Paper had already been prepared based on the report of that committee and what Council took today was the draft White Paper for discussion and review. It is ongoing. That process will continue during the next meeting.

“I know that many people have expressed concerns on when the White Paper will be released. This makes it very clear that works have been ongoing on the report of that committee.”

In an apparent attempt to assuage the fears of workers, Abati, who said the White Paper would be released in due course, noted that there was no need for any anxiety.

According to him, “the Oronsaye Committee considered suggestions, recommendations from different quarters and in total, that committee looked at 541 federal parastatals, commissions and agencies. The White Paper Drafting Committee out of that accepted 321, noted some recommendations, rejected some.

“At the end of the day, the FEC will take final decision on this recommendation and when that is done, the White Paper will be made public. I don’t think we should jump the gun. The thing to note is that all of this is being done to ensure efficiency, to reduce the cost of government, to avoid leakages and wastage and to make government far more effective in delivering quality service to Nigerians.

“This is not targeted at pushing anybody out of work, this is not an exercise in making life difficult for anybody. This is just government restructuring for better level of efficiency. People should not be unduly anxious.

“You can be assured that now that it is at the level of the FEC, work will be completed on it very quickly, the White Paper will be released and it will be implemented accordingly,”  Abati stated.