Buhari sets tone for austere governance

In a bid to reduce cost of governance, ensure proper coordination of duties and greater efficiency and service delivery by ministries and agencies of government, President Muhammadu Buhari may be making changes to the composition and number of MDAs.

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.

This is after three weeks of consultations with political leaders, and international friends of Nigeria.

A source close to the Presidency told 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 that the EFCC is to be merged with the ICPC, to tackle graft in a new way that would be prompt, fearless and decisive.

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.

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