JAMB, EFCC, ICPC, 34 others to remain •As FG dumps Oronsaye report

THE Federal Government appeared to have dumped the Steve Oronsaye-led committee report, which recommended the abrogation of 38 agencies, parastatals and merger of 52 others.
This was contained in the 2014-2016 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) document which was presented to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday.
In the document, the government told the National Assembly that the decision to dump Oronsaye report was informed by two critical factors, to wit, the fact that no savings would be made in abolishing the agencies and the fact that some of the agencies were backed by laws that would be difficult to repeal in the short term.
Among the agencies were the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
“Government is taking steps to correct the situation as much as possible through the IPPIS and other efforts. The biometric verification of government employees is being accelerated and extended to all MDAs, with the inauguration of implementation committee on IPPIS.
“It had been hoped that significant savings would be made from the implementation of government’s White Paper on rationalising public agencies.
“Unfortunately, very little or no savings are likely to be made from the implementation of the White Paper on rationalising public agencies, due to the fact that many agencies recommended for closure or merger were allowed to remain, partly due to the fact that some of them are underpinned by law, which cannot be repealed in the short run.
“In addition, the focus of government expenditure in the medium term continues to be on completing ongoing capital projects, particularly those with a high rate of return.
“The country, however, has faced serious challenges since the first quarter of 2013 as a result of significant disruptions to oil production that has led to an output drop of almost 400,000 barrels per day.
“Though the revenue loss has affected the implementation of the budget, we have, so far, been able to cope, thanks to our fiscal buffers in the Excess Crude Account (ECA).
“As mentioned earlier, our efforts in the area of revenue increase has been hampered by declining oil as non-oil revenue. Government is, however, intensifying efforts aimed at stopping the illegalities in the oil sector; implementing a more ambitious non-oil revenue programme; and tightening fiscal policy, as it prioritises spending and continues to focus on completion of on-going capital projects.
“Other measures include leveraging on private sector funds through Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangements such as the second Niger Bridge, Lekki Port, etc to complement to efforts through the budget; rationalisation of recurrent sending through continued reduction or freezing of verge ads and through IPPIS project over the 2014-2016...,” the document read.
In 2014, as part of debt service, the Federal Government said it would borrow N572 billion, although it did not state where the funds would come from.
“Government will continue to exercise fiscal prudence and limit its borrowing requirements in compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007. In this regard, new borrowing in 2014 will be N572 billion, slightly down from N577 billion in 2013,” it added.
The document also indicated that the government would focus its attention more on areas of the economy, including works, education,  power, health, security, housing, as well as agriculture and rural development.
It also stated that the government would  focus on the  critical, economic and social sectors, in its bid to reduce the infrastructure gap and create employment.
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