Director General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, told a consultation session in Abuja that the federal government lacks funds to create any new agencies. The statement was made during a review of the draft Creative Industries Development Bill, which aims to establish a Creative Industries Development Commission and foster an enabling environment for Nigeria’s creative sector.
Akabueze emphasized that, while the government will continue to support the creative industries, it will not fund the creation of additional agencies because resources are already stretched thin. He noted that the bill contains two main components: the establishment of the commission and provisions for an enabling environment. “Personally, and the office that I currently head, will not support, on any condition, the establishment of yet another agency of government. We have for long maintained that in this sector right now, there are too many agencies,” he said.
He added that the sector needs to harmonise and streamline existing agencies to stop dissipating resources and focus on growth. “The bill contains nothing that cannot be amended within existing agencies to achieve its aims. We will not be supporting the establishment of another agency. We don’t have the financing, and this is a consistent position that we have taken for a while,” Akabueze explained. He referenced the well‑known Orosanye Report, noting that for about ten years the government has set it aside while working on its implementation.
Furthermore, the government has not only a committee dedicated to implementing the Orosanye Report but also a newly inaugurated committee tasked with reviewing the additional agencies created since that report.
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