February 28, 2024

The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the last election, Peter Obi, has applauded the move by President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Government choosing to implement the Steve Oronsanye’s report.

In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, the former Anambra Governor said he would have also implemented the Oronsanye report as President stating that it was in his 2023 manifesto.

He wrote: “I have received several text messages from people wanting to know if I would have implemented the Oronsaye Report, whose  full implementation has just been directed by the President.

“In response to their questions, I would like to refer everyone to my Manifesto and my response to similar questions during my campaigns. On the 5th of October, 2022 at Harvard University, I was asked: “Will you implement the Oronsaye Report?” and I responded in the affirmative.

“I went further to explain that implementing the report is one of the best ways  to make governance efficient, cost-effective, and productive. Being in opposition does not warrant blind and thoughtless criticism. Whenever the government takes the right decision, we should agree  and if need be, propose related or even better ideas to move the nation forward.

“I have always been an advocate of the 3 critical components of the Oronsaye Report, which are: i) drastically cutting the cost of governance; ii) eliminating the overlapping of responsibilities to ensure that responsibilities are appropriately domiciled;  and iii) increasing efficiency and effectiveness, which will increase productivity.

“Having found it imperative to implement the Report, the government should now do away with the bogus and needless wastages of our scarce resources on frivolous issues, and deploy such funds to the critical areas  of Education, Health, and pulling people out of poverty.”

He however said the FG should not be hasty about implementing the Oronsaye Report because those who will be affected directly are mostly the civil servants.

“However, we must not rush to implement the Oronsaye Report just because those that will be directly affected are mostly civil servants. A very deep understanding of the workings of the Federal bureaucracy will be required to effectively implement the Report.

“Grasping the symetries between the federal and the other tiers of government will be imperative as Federal agencies have branches and outreaches in all the 36 states. We the political leaders, should be ready to back up such implementation with our sacrifices from comfort and selfishness, for the overall development of the nation.

“In implementing this Report, conscious effort must be made to cushion the effects of such a major overhaul on the workers, to avoid driving more people into hardship, in these very challenging times.

“Also Nigerians are yet to be informed  about the extant White Paper pertinent to the report’s implementation. Moreover, you cannot ask those who are likely to be affected by the downsizing to manage the process.

“Government must also show clearly the amount of resources to be saved in the implied shrinking of government. It should also indicate clearly where and how the saved resources are to be redeployed.

“More importantly, the implementation needs to be accompanied by a template to avoid a future bloating of government. By doing the right things and implementing the right policies, we will build the New Nigeria of our dreams. -PO,” he concluded.