Move by President Muhammadu Buhari to merge some ministries and parastatals  has been received with support from most Nigerians, TheStreetReporters.com can reveal.

This was the result of a recent poll conducted by a polling partnership between BusinessDay Media and NOIPolls Limited.

According the survey released on Tuesday, 72 percent of Nigerians support the proposed merger of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the federal government, with the merging of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC) highlighted as top priority.

The poll report explained that “Further findings indicates that most Nigerians (65 percent) are well informed of the President’s decision to appoint his ministers in September 2015, which was made public after the publication by the Washington Post in July 2015 of the President’s article titled “Nigeria Committed to Good Governance and Fighting Terror.

“This decision stirred varying opinions from Nigerians.

“On the one hand, most Nigerians (87 percent) consider September 2015 as a good time for the President to appoint his ministers citing  ‘he needs time to select the best persons’ (31 percent), ‘for better governance’ (13 percent), amongst other reasons.

“On the other hand, some Nigerians viewed the President’s decision as a delay, while reporting that the appointment of the ministers is ‘long overdue’ (61 percent), and has resulted in ‘delay in the execution of programmes ’ (14 percent) as well ‘economic stagnation’ (12 percent).

“Finally, more than half (58 percent) of Nigerians surveyed showed awareness of the proposed merging of some ministries and parastatals by the President; following the recommendation of the transition committee to reduce the number of ministries from its present number 42 to 19, with the aim of reducing the cost of governance as well as making these agencies more effective and responsive to the needs of Nigerians”, the report read.

It noted that these were the key findings from the ‘Governance poll’ conducted in the week of August 10, 2015.

The respondents who showed support for the merging of ministries and parastatals were further asked: In your opinion, which ministries or parastatals do you think should be merged together?

In line with the merging of ministries and parastatals to 19 in order to ensure proper and effective coordination of duties and efficiency in service delivery, a larger proportion of Nigerians surveyed (16 percent) suggests that the ‘Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)’ should be merged with the ‘Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC)’.

Other suggestions from Nigerians include the merging of ‘Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’ with the ‘Ministry of Water Resources’ (8 percent), the ‘Police Service Commission’ with ‘Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC)’ (7 percent), as well as the ‘Ministry of Aviation’ with the ‘Ministry of Transport’ (7 percent) amongst other suggestions.

In conclusion, the poll has revealed that most Nigerians (65 percent) are aware and in support (87 percent) of the President’s decision to appoint his ministers in September 2015; mainly as they believe ‘the President needs time to select the best persons’ (31 percent) to serve in this capacity; which in turn would aid good governance. Although some Nigerians (13 percent) showed no support for the appointment of ministers in September as they believe this exercise is ‘long overdue’ (61 percent), and has caused ‘delay in the execution of programmes’ (14 percent) among other reasons.

Similarly, more than half of the Nigerian adult population (58 percent) are aware of the President’s proposition to merge some ministries and parastatals to reduce their current figure from 42 to 19; and a higher proportion of Nigerians in this category (72 percent) confirmed their support for the proposed merging of some ministries and parastatals. In line with this, a larger proportion (16 percent) of them suggesting that the ‘Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC)’ should be merged together.

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