FACT CHECK: Melaye’s claim is misleading. FG didn’t scrap NTA, FRSC, ICPC, NCDC

Dino Melaye, a former senator, has posted a video implying the scrapping of some federal government parastatals, agencies, and commissions. The post also suggests that the video is new.

Published on his Instagram page on Thursday, the post reads: “FG Scraps FRCN, ICPC, NCDC, NCC, NTA, Several Others. Finally.”

In the accompanying video, Hadiza Bala Usman, special adviser to the president on policy coordination, could be seen speaking on the approval given by the federal executive council for the restructuring of some federal government parastatals and agencies.

“Our administration has taken a very bold step towards implementation on aspects of the Oronsaye panel report which speaks to mergers, subsuming, scraping and relocation of parastatals, agencies, and commissions of federal government,” Bala Usman said.

“This is in line with the need to reduce the cost of governance and ensure that we have streamlined efficiency across the governance value chain.”

So far, the video has gathered over 200k views, 5,728 likes, and 305 comments.

Most of the comments — in an apparent reaction to Melaye’s caption — expressed worries about the potential loss of jobs while some applauded the alleged scrapping of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

A few expressed shock that the broadcasting station would no longer be a household name.

THE ORONSAYE REPORT

On February 26, President Bola Tinubu directed the full implementation of the Oronsaye report.

The report, submitted in 2012 by the Stephen Oronsaye-led committee (during the administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan), is an 800-page document that recommended the abolishment and merger of 102 government agencies and parastatals.

The committee on the white paper for the report submitted its proposal in 2014, however, since the submission, the recommendations have not been implemented.

In November 2021, the federal government inaugurated two sub-committees chaired by former heads of service of the federation — Bukar Aji, Amal Pepple and Oladapo Afolabi – on the implementation of the report. The two sub-committees were also tasked with the implementation of the white paper.

In July 2022, the federal government inaugurated another white paper committee to review ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) created since 2014.

On March 7, 2024, the federal government inaugurated a 10-member committee on the implementation of the recommendations of the report.

VERIFYING MELAYE’S CLAIM

Contrary to Melaye’s claim that the agencies he listed would be scrapped, the key recommendations in the report are the consolidation of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the ICPC into a single agency.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), and the regulatory functions of the Nigerian Postal Services (NIPOST) were recommended for a merger while the NTA, FRCN, and Voice of Nigeria (VON) are also to be merged into the Federal Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria.

Similarly, the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA) and the NCDC were earmarked for merger.

A full list of agencies that will be affected can be found here.

The video posted by Melaye was originally published on February 26 by Dada Olusegun, a media aide to the president.

VERDICT

Melaye’s claim that FRCN, ICPC, NCDC, NCC, NTA and other agencies have been scrapped is misleading. The Oronsaye report recommended the aforementioned MDAs for merger.