The Federal Government has inaugurated a 16-member committee to reform the structure of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) following the recent merger of some key ministries. Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, the Acting Head of Civil Service of the Federation (HOS), while inaugurating the committee on Tuesday in Abuja, said the action was critical to achieving the desired results.
She said that it was appropriate to ensure seamless transition in operations of the affected ministries and agencies. “In this regard, there is need to establish effective structures for the ministries including proper absorption of their existing personnel as well as ensuring that they get running without much delay.
“Accordingly, government has constituted this committee comprising knowledgeable retired and serving public officers to review the structure of the merged ministries. “It is a very sensitive assignment which calls for your time and commitment; this is another opportunity for us to re-set the public service to meet the present government`s change objective,’’ she said.
According to the HOS, the committee is assigned to carry out a review of each ministry`s functions and responsibilities and determine the appropriate functions to avoid overlap. She said the committee was also to assess the current organisational structure of each ministry and recommend improved structure for efficient and effective service delivery.
Following the restructuring of the ministries on Nov. 11, the number of ministries has been reduced from 31 to 25, while the number of permanent secretaries was streamlined from 42 to 36.
