FG Says No to Merger of NCC, NBC, NIPOST

Federal government has rejected the recommendation that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the regulatory functions of Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) be brought together under a unified management structure to be known as the Communications Regulatory Authority of Nigeria.

The development followed the release of the White Paper on the Stephen Oronsaye-led Presidential Committee, on the Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commission’s and Agencies.

In the White Paper, the federal government rejected a a number of recommendations the committee had proposed but is it also accepted a number of others which has led to the merger of some agencies.

For instance, the FG accepted to merge Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA; )Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA); and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) into a new body to be known as the Federal Civil Aviation Authority (FCAA).

The respective enabling laws of the affected agencies are to be amended accordingly to reflect the merger.

The FG however, rejected the recommendation of the Steve Oronsaye committee that  the  Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); the Independent Corrupt Practices and other offences Commission, (ICPC); the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Code of Conduct be merged.

These were the highlights of the report of the white paper drafting committee on the recommendations of Oronsaye committee which was made available to State House correspondents.

The government also rejected the privatisation of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigerian (FAAN) in view of the security situation in the country.

The recommendation that the  Nigerian Television Authority, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria and Voice of Nigeria be merged into one body, to be known as Federal Corporation Broadcasting of Nigeria, FCBN, was also rejected.

It was, however, approved that the Nigerian Television Authority be fully commercialised by 2015.

Other recommendations rejected by the government were the re-introduction of tuition fees in its universities; the abolition of the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, NEDRC, and the merger of the  National Directorate of Employment and Small Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, to form a single agency for wealth creation.