The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Monday approved the scrapping of the Bureau of Public Enterprises as well as 219 other parastatals and agencies.
Similarly, the recommendation for the merging of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) was accepted.
FEC will also investigate allegations of the National Boundaries Commission that the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGOF) funded two phantom boundary demarcations, and as well illegally extended the maritime boundary of the country from 200 nautical miles to 350 nautical miles at the cost of $12m without consulting appropriate.
The decisions were reached after FEC reviewed the White Paper on the report of the Presidential Committee on the Rationalization and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, chaired by former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Steve Oronsaye.
Oronsaye’s panel was inaugurated in 2011 to restructure and rationalize Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies of the government as part of measures to reduce the rising budget profile. And since turning in its report, FEC has spent the last three weeks review it. It eventually concluded the review on June 26.
Apart from the BPE, some other agencies pencilled for scrapping are the National Economic Intelligence Committee, National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Public Complaints Commission (PCC) and Federal Highways Department Utilities Charges Commission.
