Buhari Set For Strategic Changes Based On Transition Committee’s Recommendations

President Muhammadu Buhari Receiving The Report Of The APC Transition Committee From The Chairman, Malam Ahmed Joda At The Defence Guest House In Abuja On Friday (12/6/15).

Based on the recommendations of the Ahmed Joda-led Transition Committee, President Muhammadu Buhari is set to unveil a set of strategic changes for his administration. These proposed changes form the common thread of a number of media reports today.

Buhari To Merge EFCC, ICPC; Ministries Reduced To 19

50 agencies of govt to be scrapped

Sunday Vanguard reports after three weeks of consultations with international and Nigeria’s political leaders, President Muhammadu Buhari appears set to effect major changes in the administration of the country in a bid to translate the ‘change’ mantra of his party into reality. To start with, the President is said to have accepted the recommendation of the transition committee he raised a few weeks ago to slash the number of ministries from the present 42 to 19 with a view to saving cost and making them more effective and responsive to the needs of Nigerians.

In the same vein, many of the ministries have been merged to ensure proper coordination of duties and ensure greater efficiency and service delivery.

A source close to the Presidency told Sunday Vanguard that the number of Federal Government departments and agencies had also been trimmed in line with the policy of the administration.

Effectively, it means that no fewer than 50 of the MDAs that were not backed by relevant laws might be scrapped and their staff moved into relevant departments to save cost.

The Presidency source hinted,”But the point being made is that relevant MDAs that will exist under the present administration must be those backed by laws.

“What that means is that the era of doing things the wrong way to please certain persons in positions of power is over.”

Shedding light on some of the ministries that had been merged, the official pointed out that the Ministry of Aviation and relevant agencies had been subsumed with Inland Waterways and associated agencies.

Similarly, the Ministry of Agriculture has been merged with that of Water Resources under what the Presidency source described as the consolidation of larger ministries.

It was learnt that under the administration of Buhari, only 19 ministers and 17 ministers of state would operate as opposed to the previous arrangement where there were at least 42.

It was further gathered that some ministries would be run by senior ministers while others would be manned by junior ministers to save cost.

On the fight against corruption, the source disclosed to  Sunday  Vanguard that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission  (EFCC) is to be merged with the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC, to tackle graft in a new way that would be prompt, fearless and decisive.

Buhari, who travelled out of Abuja since returning from the African Union meeting in South Africa, late last week, is expected to join his wife, Aisha, at the Presidential Villa, for the first time after being sworn-in on May 29.

The wife had moved into the Villa on Thursday ahead of the President to prepare the ground for his formal assumption of work at the seat of power. He has been operating from the Defence House in the last three weeks.

A top source also said Buhari was expected to make some key appointments this week so as to get the machinery of his administration running. The delay in naming the critical staff of his office had forced some of his key loyalists to demand that he acts fast to deliver the change he promised Nigerians during the campaigns.

Transition Committee Proposes Removal Of Fuel Subsidy

TheCable reports that the All Progressives Congress (APC) transition committee has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to work out “detailed and coordinated” plan to remove subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.

The advisory body, whose report is expected to influence the policy direction of the new government, also recommended that kerosene subsidy should be scrapped immediately.

While kerosene is officially N50 per litre, the end users pay as much as N150 despite the existence of subsidy — a case of double jeopardy for the government and consumers but a source of massive income for marketers and fuel import contractors.

The committee also asked Buhari to privatize the nation’s four refineries by adopting the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) as a model.

NLNG is jointly owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) 49%, Shell Gas B.V. 25.6%, Total LNG Nigeria Ltd 15% and Eni International 10.4% — but it is not managed by the Nigerian government, unlike the nation’s refineries which are solely managed by the NNPC.

These recommendations, in a report seen by TheCable, are intended to “eliminate waste and redirect resources to fuel development, growth and job creation”, according to the committee headed by Ahmed Joda, former super perm secretary.

Fuel subsidy, which gulps billions of dollars every year, has been a very volatile issue in Nigeria’s political economy since the mid-1980s, leading to riots and demonstrations because of the resultant increase in pump prices of petroleum products.

But with dwindling oil revenue, ballooning subsidy claims and growing national debt, there is an emerging consensus that the expenditure can no longer be sustained.

Attempts by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan to remove the subsidy in 2012 were greeted with nationwide protests amidst allegations of scam in payments to marketers running into trillions of naira. Jonathan eventually reversed the policy.

Federal government currently owes oil marketers over N200 billion, a development that recently resulted in a nationwide fuel crisis as they cut down on importation.

With another N400 billion owed in salary arrears to federal workers, the Joda committee has asked Buhari to pay arrears of salary and fuel subsidy, “failing which it could lead to mass labour unrest which could undermine the goodwill of the Administration”.

The committee recommended that all outstanding subsidy liabilities should be audited and the verified claims paid to marketers to “ensure PMS is readily available to the market to avoid further fuel queues”.

Other key recommendations concerning the oil and gas sector include:

• Reviewing all Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) operations and agreements especially the Strategic Alliance Agreements executed with third parties. This is to recoup any unearned royalties, taxes and any potential over-lifting under these agreements. This is one of the issues raised in the recent audit of NNPC.
• Reviewing all pioneer status and tax waivers, and renegotiating or revoking concessions granted in order to recoup unpaid taxes. The Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) was recently accused of indiscriminately granting pioneer certificates which led to an estimated loss of US$20 billion revenue over five years.
• Commencing a full-scale reorganization and restructuring of NNPC and its subsidiaries to reposition it as a globally competitive national oil company and “significantly enhance reserves, output and revenues while creating major linkages with other sectors of the Nigerian economy”.
• Incorporating the existing joint ventures (JVs) and reducing federal government stake to 49% “which should be on the listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange”. This is expected to raise significant revenue from asset sale, relieve the government of the burden of cash call obligations and facilitate investment for accretion of reserves.
• Commencing an audit of all Offshore Processing Agreements and Crude Swap Agreements entered by NNPC to identify and claim any reimbursements for excess crude lifted vis-a -vis products delivered based on a fair and transparent audit process.
• Providing relevant security hardware and personnel to eliminate vandalism to critical pipeline infrastructure and unauthorized offshore vessel loading.

The Joda committee submitted its report on June 12, recommending, among other things, that Buhari should reduce the number of ministries to 19 from the current 28.