The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, has hailed the President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Government for implementing the Oronsaye’s report.
The Oronsaye Report which came into existence under the leadership of former Head of Civil Service, Stephen Oronsaye, is a document that contains recommendations for restructuring and rationalising the Federal Government of Nigeria’s agencies, parastatals, and commissions. Submitted in 2012, the Oronsaye report revealed that there were 541 – statutory and non-statutory – Federal Government parastatals, commissions and agencies. The 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.
In a series of posts via his X handle on Wednesday, February 28, Obi stated that although he is an opposition, whenever the government takes a right decision, we should agree and propose related or even better ideas in order to move the nation forward adding that the implementation must not be rushed as those who would be affected more are the civil servants.
Obi wrote in part: “I have received several text messages from people wanting to know if I would have implemented the Oronsaye Report, which full implementation has just been directed by the President. In response to their questions, I would like to refer everyone to my Manifesto and my response to similar questions during my campaigns. On the 5th of October, 2022 at Havard University, I was asked: “Will you implement the Oronsaye Report?” and I responded in the affirmative.
“I went further to explain that implementing the report is one of the best ways to make governance efficient, cost-effective, and productive. Being in opposition does not warrant blind and thoughtless criticism. Whenever the government takes the right decision, we should agree and if need be, propose related or even better ideas to move the nation forward. I have always been an advocate of the 3 critical components of the Oronsaye Report, which are: i) drastically cutting the cost of governance; ii) eliminating the overlapping of responsibilities to ensure that responsibilities are appropriately domiciled; and iii) increasing efficiency and effectiveness, which will increase productivity.
“However, we must not rush to implement the Oronsaye Report just because those that will be directly affected are mostly civil servants. A very deep understanding of the workings of the Federal bureaucracy will be required to effectively implement the Report. Grasping the symetries between the federal and the other tiers of government will be imperative as Federal agencies have branches and outreaches in all the 36 states. We the political leaders, should be ready to back up such implementation with our sacrifices from comfort and selfishness, for the overall development of the nation. In implementing this Report, conscious effort must be made to cushion the effects of such a major overhaul on the workers, to avoid driving more people into hardship, in these very challenging times.”
