THE ATIKU PLAN AND THE ORONSAYE REPORT: How It Will Put Food On The Tables Of Nigerians - Lauretta Onochie

The Oronsaye Report is about making government smaller, less wasteful and more useful — so that money spent maintaining unnecessary bureaucracy can instead be spent on Nigerians.

The report dates back to 2012. A committee chaired by former Head of the Civil Service Stephen Oronsaye examined the huge number of federal parastatals, commissions and agencies. It identified 541 bodies and recommended, among other measures, reducing 263 statutory agencies to 161, abolishing 38, merging 52 and returning 14 to departments within ministries. 

The central problem was duplication: different agencies were sometimes being funded to perform similar or overlapping jobs.

THE ORONSAYE REPORT: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO THE ORDINARY NIGERIAN?

Imagine a family which earns ₦300,000 every month.

But that family maintains three drivers when it owns only one car; three generators when it needs one; and several people doing essentially the same job.

Every month, money goes into their salaries, offices, vehicles, fuel, allowances and administration.

Meanwhile, the children need school fees. The roof is leaking. There is no money for medical treatment. The family needs to start a business. What should that family do?

Cut unnecessary expenses and move the savings to things that actually improve the family's life.

That, in simple terms, is the philosophy behind the Oronsaye Report. Why was the report necessary?

Nigeria accumulated hundreds of federal agencies, commissions and parastatals over the years. Every additional institution can mean another management structure, office accommodation, vehicles, recurrent expenditure, procurement, administration and sometimes a governing board.

The Oronsaye Committee concluded that there were substantial duplications and overlaps among government bodies. Its solution was not simply “close government agencies.” It was essentially:

If two organisations are doing substantially the same job, why should taxpayers maintain two bureaucracies?

Some should therefore be merged. Some functions should return to ministries. Institutions that have ceased to justify their existence should be abolished, while necessary agencies should become more efficient.

How can this put food on the table of an ordinary Nigerian? 

This is the important part.

1. More money for hospitals and healthcare.

If billions of naira are no longer consumed by unnecessary administrative structures, government can redirect those resources towards primary healthcare centres, medicines, maternal healthcare, doctors and medical equipment.

2. More resources for education. Savings can support schools, teachers, classrooms, vocational education, universities and programmes that help children from poor families remain in school.

3. Infrastructure can receive more funding. Instead of maintaining duplicative bureaucracies, resources can be channelled into roads, electricity, water, irrigation, transportation and other productive infrastructure.

4. It can reduce opportunities for waste and corruption. Every unnecessary agency creates another budget, another procurement system and another administrative structure through which public money must pass. Consolidating functions can make expenditure easier to monitor and can reduce incidences of corruption.

5. Government can become easier to navigate. Nigerians should not have to move from agency to agency because several institutions have confusing or overlapping responsibilities. Clearly defined mandates can mean faster decisions and greater accountability.

6. It can help create fiscal space for social protection and employment programmes. Importantly, the Oronsaye Report does not magically create new national wealth. Its value lies in changing where existing public money goes: away from avoidable administrative expenditure and towards programmes that can have a more direct impact on citizens.

There is also an important point worthy of note: As some agencies were created by legislation, meaning restructuring can require amendments to existing laws. 

Where does Atiku Abubakar's proposal fit in?

A few days ago, ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar has pledged that, as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, his administration would begin with a transparent review of existing agencies, identify overlapping mandates, merge unnecessary duplications, block financial leakages and redirect savings towards healthcare, education, infrastructure, employment and social protection. 

This is in contrast to the present arrangement under Pres. Tinubu where top government functionaries, create, own and fund agencies from the National budget. 

Atiku's argument, therefore, can be expressed to ordinary Nigerians in one straightforward proposition:

Government cannot continually ask citizens to tighten their belts while government itself refuses to tighten its own belt.

If a government asks a market woman, civil servant, farmer, driver and small-business owner to endure difficult economic reforms, then Nigerians are entitled to ask:

What sacrifices is government itself making?

That is where the Oronsaye Report becomes more than an administrative document.

It becomes a question of priorities.

Should Nigeria spend scarce resources maintaining overlapping bureaucracies, or should more of that money reach hospitals, schools, roads, security, jobs and vulnerable citizens?

The report's promise is essentially:

One government function. 

One efficient structure. 

No unnecessary duplication.

And Atiku's proposed additional audit is significant because the original report examined the structure of government more than a decade ago. Government has changed since 2012; this is why Atiku is not simply dusting off the old report. He is ordering a fresh functional audit to establish which institutions remain necessary, which now duplicate others, what each costs, and how much can genuinely be saved.

The message can ultimately be reduced to something every Nigerian understands:

ORONSAYE REPORT = CUT THE COST OF GOVERNMENT, NOT THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF NIGERIANS.

Merge duplication.

Remove waste.

Block leakages.

Keep essential services.

Protect legitimate workers through orderly restructuring.

Publish the savings. Transparency.

Then invest those savings in the Nigerian people.

That last part; publishing and tracing the savings is crucial. Nigerians will benefit only if money saved from restructuring does not disappear elsewhere in government. The strongest implementation would therefore show citizens, year by year, how much was saved and exactly where that money was reinvested.

This is how Atiku Abubakar would turn the Oronsaye Report from another government document into something an ordinary Nigerian can actually feel in the hospital, the school, the road, the workplace and ultimately the household budget.

Welcome to Atiku's Affordable Nigeria. 

Lauretta Onochie 

@Laurestar