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Claim: A WhatsApp user posted a video multiple times claiming that the government has scrapped the key government agency in Nigeria.
Verdict: MISLEADING. Findings reveal that the six-minute, 19-second video showed Hadiza Usman, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination, speaking on the merger and relocation of some government agencies, not the scrapping of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, (ICPC) Nigeria Centre For Disease Control, (NCDC) Nigeria Communication Commission, (NCC), and Nigeria Television Authority, (NTA).
Full Text
During his tenure in 2011, former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan tasked the Presidential Committee with “Restructuring and Rationalisation of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions, and Agencies.” Steve Oronsaye was the head of the committee. The group reported that there are 541 federal government parastatals, commissions, and agencies, which include statutory and non-statutory agencies.
Following the 2012 Oronsaye report, the committee advised reducing the number of statutory agencies from 263 to 161. Other recommendations include shutting down 38 agencies, merging 52 establishments, and relocating 14 departments to corresponding ministries.
However, a WhatsApp user posted a video on Apr. 16, 2024, with the inscription, “President Tinubu scraps Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, [FRCN], Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC], Independent Corrupt Practices Commission [ICPC], Nigeria Centre for Disease Control [NCDC], Nigeria Communication Communication [NCC], Nigeria Television Authority[NTA] Several others.”
The Virality of the post on WhatsApp groups prompted DUBAWA to verify it.
Verification
In the video, Hadiza Usman, Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Policy and Coordination, discussed the merger and relocation of some government agencies. Throughout the six-minute, 19-second video, she never mentioned the scrapping of the said agencies, as alleged in the forwarded message.
We also conducted a Google Reverse Image Search on the video and discovered that it was old. It was posted by TikTok users @glowrealmeracool and @daddyelly0 on Feb. 27, 2024. It was tagged “President Tinubu scraps, EFCC, ICPC, NCDC, NCC, NTA, Several others.”
We found the original video on Channels Television on YouTube and discovered that the special adviser, ‘Hadiza Usman, only spoke about merging agencies, not scrapping them.
In her words, “One of the key areas that the honourable minister has mentioned is the fact that our administration is taking bold steps towards implementing the Oronsaye Report, which speaks to the mergers, subsuming, and relocation of parastatals agencies, commission of the federal government.” This is in line with the need to discuss good governance and ensure we have streamlined efficiency across the governance value chain.
On Feb. 26, 2024, Bola Tinubu ordered the full implementation of the Oronsaye report. As a result, the government announced the merging, subsuming, scrapping, and relocation of several agencies. Coming from a private sector background, Oronsaye transitioned into the civil service at a senior level and ascended to the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation. In the 800-page report, the only agencies to be scrapped are the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, with its functions transferred to the Federal Ministry of Finance and the National Senior Secondary Education Commission (NSSEC), with its functions transferred to the Department of Basic and Secondary Education in the Federal Ministry of Education.
According to a report by The Cable, other agencies mentioned in the circulated WhatsApp post were merged and not scrapped.
Conclusion
Our findings show that none of the agencies in the video was scrapped but merged as recommended by the Oronsaye Report. The video circulating on WhatsApp is misleading.
Editor’s Note: Alterations have been made at different points in this publication, including the first paragraph.
The researcher produced this fact-check for the DUBAWA 2024 Kwame KariKari Fellowship, in partnership with Olufisoye Adenitan, FRCN positive fm Akure Ondo state Nigeria, to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.
