Headline

20 Insights Into Oronsaye Report As EFCC, FRSC, Others Set For Merger

Published

2 years ago

February 26, 2024

After years of clamour by Nigerians, President Bola Tinubu on Monday ordered the full implementation of the Oronsaye report.

By implementing the report, several agencies of the government would be merged, subsumed, scrapped, and relocated. ⁣
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The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, revealed this to State House correspondents after Monday’s Federal Executive Council meeting at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja. ⁣

Here are things to know about the report

– President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, in 2012, set up the Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies.

– The committee was headed by a retired federal civil servant and former Head of Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye.

– After their painstaking assignment, the committee recommended the scrapping and merging of 220 out of the then existing 541 government agencies.

– If implemented, no fewer than 102 heads of agencies and parastatals will lose their jobs.

– The committee’s 800-page report noted that the government’s parastatals and agencies’ functions are overlapping.

– The committee recommended the reduction of statutory agencies from 263 to 161.

– The committee recommended the abolition of 38 agencies, the merger of 52 and the reversion of 14 to departments in ministries.

– The committee also recommended the management audit of 89 agencies capturing biometric features of staff as well as the discontinuation of government funding of professional bodies/councils.

– Oronsaye said then that if the committee’s recommendation was implemented, the government would be saving over N862 billion between 2012 and 2015.

– The breakdown showed that about N124.8 billion would be reduced from agencies proposed for abolition; about N100.6 billion from agencies proposed for mergers; about N6.6 billion from professional bodies; N489.9 billion from universities; N50.9 billion from polytechnics; N32.3 billion from colleges of education and N616 million from boards of federal medical centres.

– If implemented, agencies that may be affected include the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and Federal Road Safety Commission.

– Other agencies cited doing overlapping functions are the Nigerian Communication Satellite Limited, the National Broadcasting Commission and the Nigeria Communications Commission in the area of frequency allocation.

– Also, the Universal Basic Education Commission, Nomadic Education Commission, and National Mass Literacy Commission are performing overlapping functions and should be brought under one body.

– The committee again believes NTA, FRCN, and VON should be under one management.

– After the committee’s report, the White paper committee set up by Jonathan’s administration rejected most of the recommendations, while those accepted were not implemented.

– In November 2021, the Federal Government inaugurated two committees; one of the committees was to review the Orosanye report and its white paper chaired by Goni Aji, a retired Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

– The second committee was constituted to review agencies created from 2014 till date, chaired by Amal Pepple, also a retired Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.

– Upon submission of their reports, the Federal Government in July 2022 set up another committee chaired by Ebele Okeke, a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to produce a white paper on the reports.

– Speaking during the presentation of the white paper to the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, in Abuja, Okeke stressed that it is important to discuss with the leadership of the National Assembly to achieve the desired result, adding that most of the agencies created were products of bills from the National Assembly.

– She said, “The committee observed that the legal framework/enabling Act of some of the PACs did not clearly define structure, management, and oversight. Most of the laws were used by agency, commission and board interchangeably. For instance, where the organisation is defined as a commission, the provisions of the law did not support the structure of a commission. In this regard, the committee recommended a change in status/name, and amendment of the Act/Law.

“The committee observed that most of the agencies created (especially under Education and Health) were Bills that emanated from the National Assembly. It is, therefore, important to engage and dialogue with the National Assembly to generate an understanding to streamline the creation of new PACs.

“It is noteworthy that some of the recommendations can be considered as low-hanging fruits that can be implemented immediately after approval of the white paper.”

Headline

Strait Of Hormuz: US Announces Sanctions Against Iran

Published

13 minutes ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States Treasury has announced sanctions against Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said this in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement extended the threat of sanctions to anyone paying the fees, saying they may be providing support to and receiving services from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and therefore may be exposed to sanctions risk.

“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash.

“Treasury has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions,” Bessent said.

Bessent added that the US has succeeded in disrupting tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue from being accessible to Tehran.

Headline

US Launches New Airstrikes On Iran

Published

16 minutes ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States has launched new airstrikes in southern Iran.

The strike shot down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz and then a ground control site.

A US official revealed that American forces struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

The official described the strikes as purely defensive, saying the US intended to maintain the ceasefire.

Report says this is the second time in three days that the US has carried out self-defense strikes against Iranian military targets in southern Iran.

Recall that on Monday the US carried out airstrikes against Iranian missile locations and boats that US Central Command said were preparing to launch mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

Headline

Woman Passes Out After Receiving 100 Strokes Of Cane

Published

4 days ago

May 24, 2026

Editor

A woman has passed out after she and her partner were each flogged 100 times in public for engaging in sex outside marriage under strict Sharia laws in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

The woman, whose identity was not disclosed, was later carried away after the punishment was carried out in Banda Aceh, located at the northern tip of Sumatra island on Thursday.

A masked official dressed in brown robes administered the caning before members of the public who gathered to witness the punishment.

Her partner was also seen wincing in pain while receiving the lashes.

The pair were among several individuals punished for violating Sharia regulations in the province.

Authorities from the Banda Aceh Sharia Court and the Prosecutor’s Office handed down punishments ranging from 25 to 100 lashes for offences including extramarital sex allegedly arranged through online applications.

Aceh remains the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia operating under Sharia law, where unmarried couples are prohibited from having sexual relations.

Caning is commonly used in the province as punishment for offences such as gambling, alcohol consumption, same-sex relations and sex outside marriage.

Under Aceh’s Sharia regulations, child rape offenders face some of the harshest penalties, including up to 200 strokes of the cane, a prison sentence of as long as 200 months or fines equivalent to two kilograms of gold.

The punishments are usually carried out publicly as a way of shaming offenders in addition to inflicting physical pain.

Such canings are often conducted outside mosques or in open public spaces, with residents watching and taking photographs during the exercise.

Human rights organisations have continued to condemn the practice, arguing that it causes emotional trauma and violates international human rights standards.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly criticised the punishments, saying they conflict with Indonesia’s constitution and global legal obligations.

Amnesty said in a statement: “Caning contravenes Indonesia’s constitution and is in clear violation of international human rights law and standards.

‘It constitutes a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and can amount to torture in violation of the UN Convention against Torture and other international covenants, to which Indonesia is a State Party.’”

Despite the criticism, local authorities have defended the punishments as part of Aceh’s religious and cultural identity, insisting they serve as a deterrent against immoral behaviour.

Earlier in January, another couple in the province reportedly received 140 lashes each after being found guilty of drinking alcohol and engaging in sex outside marriage.

(Daily Mail)