Eight years after its recommendation, President Muhammadu Buhari has given approval for the merging of 102 Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, of government.
Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, while confirming the development said it is in line with the current realities and the need for government to cut the cost of governance.
Top among the agencies to be scrapped or merged are: Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF; Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA; Petroleum Equalisation Fund, PEF; Ajaokuta Steel Company, ASC; and National Iron Ore Mining Company, NIOMCO.
Others include: the National Salaries and Wages Commission, NSWC; Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission, NIPC; Infrastructure Concessionary and Regulatory Commission, ICRC; he Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, ICPC, and Code of Conduct Bureau; Fiscal Responsibility Commission, FRC; National Board for Technical Education, NBTE; National Commission for Colleges of Education, NCCE; Federal Character Commission, FCC; Gurara Water Management Authority, GWMA; Nigeria Integrated Water Resources Management Commission, NIWRMC; National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA; Commercial Law Department, CLD; and Centre for Automotive Design and Development, CADD.
Others are: Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON; Consumer Protection Council, CPC; National Orientation Agency, NOA; National Institute for Cultural Orientation, NICO; Nigerian Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Studies, NIHOTOUR; National Troupe and the National Theatre; National Gallery of Arts; Energy Commission of Nigeria, ECN; Nigeria Leather Science Technology, NLST; National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, NARICT; National Biotechnology Development Agency, NABDA; Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, NBRRI; FIIRO, NASENI, NCAM; National Rural Electrification Agency, NREA; National Power Training Institute of Nigeria, NAPTIN.
Also affected are the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa, DTCA; Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, IPCR; National Economic Recovery Fund, NERFUND; National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency NOSDRA.
Similarly, the Nigerian Institute for Education Planners and Administrators, NIEPA; National Metallurgical Development Centre, NMDC, Jos, National Metallurgical Training Institute, NMTI, Onitsha; Nigerian Institute of Mining and Geosciences, NIMG, Jos; Nigerian Geological Survey, NGS; National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency, NSRMEA; National Productivity Centre, NPC; Nigerian Copyright Commission, NCC; NTA, FRCN, Voice of Nigeria; National Agency for the Control of HIV/AIDS, Roll-Back Malaria, Epidemiology and Surveillance, Occupational and Environmental Health, Health Emergency Preparedness and Response also fall under this category.
