Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed rejected a proposal by the National Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) to create new agencies for monitoring and evaluating Federal Government projects. Speaking at the opening session of the Dialogue on the National Monitoring and Evaluation Policy and Women’s Economic Empowerment at State House, Abuja, Ahmed said the Federal Government was concerned about role duplication, noting that too many agencies were pursuing the same tasks. She emphasized the need to reduce, not increase, the number of agencies, adding that the current monitoring and evaluation framework already incorporates technology and citizen involvement.
Ahmed’s remarks responded to comments made earlier by Prof. Don Pasha, representing the Director‑General of NIPSS. Pasha had recommended establishing a dedicated agency for monitoring and evaluation. While Ahmed disagreed with creating another agency, she agreed with the emphasis on technology. She explained that the government had upgraded its M&E framework by involving citizens in projects.
Prof. Don Pasha later told a correspondent that his proposal sought autonomy for the departments responsible for monitoring the implementation of Federal Government projects. He argued that this did not conflict with the Oronsaye report, which recommends merging or scrapping at least 90 government agencies. “It’s not a clash of interests or goals because any new agency would have a function,” Pasha said. “We are not insisting that agencies must be created. The departments currently running programmes and performing M&E should be given some level of independence. Subsuming them into a structure makes it very difficult for them to operate. We need autonomy for those departments, even if they are not upgraded to an agency.”
The Oronsaye report, submitted in 2012, identified 541 statutory and non‑statutory Federal Government parastatals, commissions and agencies. Its 800‑page recommendations called for slashing 263 statutory agencies to 161, scrapping 38, merging 52 and reverting 14 to ministries. It also suggested repealing the law establishing the National Salaries and Wages Commission and transferring its functions to the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Responsibility Commission, as well as merging the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, and the Code of Conduct Bureau.
Earlier, the finance minister noted that implementing the National Development Plan (2021‑2025) would require N350 trillion, with the Federal Government contributing only nine percent. She estimated government capital expenditure at N50 trillion (14 % of the total), of which the Federal Government would provide N30 trillion and sub‑national governments N20 trillion (six %). The remaining N300 trillion would need to come from the organized private sector. Ahmed stressed that successful implementation of the plan depends on a strong partnership between the public and private sectors, each playing its role effectively.
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