FG inaugurates committee on renew of MDAs

The Federal Government has inaugurated a 16- man committee to review the structure of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that were recently merged by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Inaugurating the committee, Thursday, the Acting Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Winifred Oyo-Ita said that it was imperative to take appropriate action to ensure seamless transition and operations of the affected Ministries.

“In this regard, there is need to establish effective structures for the Ministries, including proper absorption of their existing personnel as well as ensuring that they get running without much delay” Oyo Ita said .

A statement by the Assistant Director (Media Relations) Mohammed Manga, after the i inauguration, said the Head of Service further stated that the committee which comprises of knowledgeable retired and serving public officers was constituted to review the structure of the merged Ministries.

“It is a very sensitive assignment which calls for your time and commitment; this is another opportunity for us to re-set the public service to meet the present government’s change objective” she said.

Oyo- Ita said that there was no doubt that the functions of some Ministries were expanded, while others were required to realign their focus.

She said that the terms of reference of the committee include: to carry out a review of ministry’s functions and responsibilities and determine the appropriate functions to avoid overlaps duplication of functions and redundancy.

The committed she added, is also to assess the current organizational structure of each ministry and recommend an improved structure for efficient and effective service delivery.

The Head of Service said that the committee was also expected to examine the nominal roles of the Ministries and make appropriate recommendations for effective deployment of staff.

She said further said that the committee is to examine and recommend the distribution of existing assets and liabilities of the Ministries and advise government on other matters.

The committee, headed by Ebele Okeke, a former Head of Service of the Federation also comprises of the following former Heads of Service, Oladapo Afolabi, Isa Bello Sali and Bukar Goni Aji.

Other members include A. O. Okafor, Hakeem Baba Ahmed, Sylvester Akinsole Arikawe, Tukur Ingawa, A.S. Olayisade, Habiba Lawal, Alhaji Mohammed Bukar, Mohammed Abbas, Nuratu Batagarawa, Innocent K. Ogbonnaya, Joe Abah and Ochapa Ogenyi who is to serve as the secretary of the committee.

Okeke who spoke on behalf of the committee members, said, although the merger was carried out to save cost of governance, putting the right persons together might come with its challenges. She thanked the Federal Government for the opportunity to serve and promised that the committee would ensure that it delivers on its mandate.

It can be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari , while constituting the Federal Executive Council on Wednesday 11th November, 2015 announced a restructuring of Federal Ministries, reducing the numbers of ministries from 31 to 24 and the number of Permanent Secretaries was also streamlined from 42 to 36.

Elizabeth Archibong