Tag Archives: Joda Committee

Joda Committee Proposes Merger Of DPR, NERC

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The Nigerian Government may be considering the establishment within the next 30 days of an inter-ministerial energy committee that would undertake the regulatory functions of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) in the gas/electricity value chain, to ensure uninterrupted supply of natural gas from the oil companies to the power plants in the country.

Under the National Gas Master Plan, the DPR is mandated to implement a Gas Pricing Regulation framework of 2007, which provides the legal basis for gas supply to domestic market, particularly the power sector, to provide the energy required to power productive activities in the economy.

On the other hand, NERC has the responsibilities under the Electric Power Sector Reform Act to undertake the technical and economic regulation of the tariff, approval of capacity expansion and business plans in the electricity industry value chain.

To guarantee the energy necessary to drive productive activities in the economy, the Finance and Economy sub-committee of the Ahmed Joda-led Transition Committee set up by the ruling All Progressives Congress to assist the smooth take off of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, recommended that the creation of the committee that would merge and streamline decision making processes between the two agencies and increase regulatory certainty and investor confidence in the power sector.

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Merge Indebted Arik, Aero, Others To Form National Carrier; Joda Committee Tells Buhari

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The Buhari administration may be considering merging all debtor airlines in the country into a national carrier, capable of serving the West and Central African regions, with Nigeria as the regional aviation hub.

That is part of the recommendations by the Ahmed Joda transition committee, which submitted its report to President Muhammadu Buhari about two weeks ago.

Six of Nigeria’s leading domestic airlines are currently bogged down by huge debts totalling almost N130 billion, forcing them to turn to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) for a lifeline.

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Sack Jonathan’s Last Minutes Appointees, Review Contracts Of Last 18 Months, Joda Committee Tells Buhari

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The Ahmed Joda transition committee has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately terminate all dubious appointments made by former President Goodluck Jonathan in the last nine months, and review all contracts awarded by the administration in the last 18 months.

The committee said this is to help the new government sidestep ineptitude and waste, and scale up its revenue base.

The recommendations are part of a portfolio of swift steps Mr. Buhari must take within three months of assumption of power if he must save cost and “enhance liquidity”, the committee said in its 800-page report to the president.

A news agency obtained volumes of the report, which contain extensive analyses of Nigeria’s key challenges, with suggested responses for the economy and finance, governance and social welfare.

The report details a list of prompt, medium and long term decisions Mr. Buhari must take, or authorize, within 30, 45, 60 and 90 days of taking office, to create immediate impact, reduce government liability, increase revenue and stabilize the polity.

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Buhari’s Cabinet: Joda Committee Recommends 19 Senior Ministers, 17 Ministers Of State

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Amid growing public concern over the structure and membership of the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari, indications have emerged that the President may operate with just 19 ministries.

The Ahmed Joda-led Transition Committee has recommended a “small government” which entails pruning the number of ministers from 42 to 19, The Cable newspaper reported Friday, quoting the 800-page document submitted by the committee.

Mr. Joda submitted the report to Mr. Buhari last Friday.

The president is expected to implement key recommendations of the report, especially those proposing lean cabinet structure as a way of cutting recurrent expenditure and freeing up funds for capital projects.

According to The Cable, the committee recommended that Mr. Buhari should have only 19 senior ministers, while 17 (junior) ministers of state should be appointed, bringing the total to 36 in line with constitutional provision of one minister per state.

Most of the existing ministries are to be merged, while only nine are not recommended for pruning, the report said.

The nine ministries unaffected by the recommendation of the committee are: industry, trade and investment; education, defence, FCT, finance, labour and productivity, justice, foreign affairs and national planning.

The Joda committee recommended that ministries of mines and steel development, petroleum resources and power should become one ministry to be named “ministry of energy”, while environment, land and urban development as well as works and housing should be merged and known as works, housing and environment instead of being three separate ministries.

Also the ministries of aviation and transport are to become ministry of transport taking charge of aviation, rail, water and transport systems.

“There is no direct relationship between the number of ministries and efficacy of service delivery. The US with a population of 316 million and with GDP of $17,328 trillion (30 times Nigeria’s GDP) has 15 ministries. India has 24 ministries, while the UK has 17,” the committee was quoted as saying.

“The current structure of the FGN with 28 ministries and 542 agencies (50 of which have no enabling laws) [results in] very high cost of governance. The portfolios of ministries are not responsive to all the major critical national challenges such as family and child affairs; religious affairs; vulnerable and elderly group affairs as well as the North-eastern crisis.

“[There is an] apparent conflict between the desire of reducing the cost of governance through cabinet downsize and the constitutional requirement of a cabinet-level ministerial appointment from each of the 36 states of the federation,” the newspaper quoted the committee’s report as saying.

Credit: premiumtimesng