The Nigerian minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Lai Muhammed says the ministry needs to be properly funded for the achievement of peace and stability in the country.
He was speaking at the 2022 Budget Performance and 2023 Budget Defense of the ministry and its agencies, in Abuja.
He said that the Ministry of information at this critical time in Nigeria should have more funds to combat fake news, misinformation and other trends that are threatening the country.
“I fully understand the current challenges the country is facing. But I don’t agree that the ministry of Information and Culture should have less, rather it should have more. While I admit that our source of revenue has dwindled, but there’s no better time to have money for the ministry of Information and Culture. If the ministry of Information is given enough money, we can be chronicling and be telling the world what we have done in the last eight years. This three hundred and forty-five million capital expenditure, I don’t know what to do with it. I don’t know where to start,” Mr. Mohammed lamented.
He appealed for increase in the budget allocation for agencies under the ministry especially as 2023 was an election and population census year and the ministry is expected to do flagship programmes.
“If you expect so much from the ministry, which is true, the least you can do for us is to provide the tools and the wherewithal to do so. Our commitment to the peace and stability of Nigeria cannot be quantified”, Mr. Muhammed said.
He lamented that considering the enormous task ahead of the media houses in the country, he does know how the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) and Voice of Nigeria (VON) are expected to perform.
The minister noted that what the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture was getting was less than what state ministries were getting.
In his remarks, the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on Information, Hon. Olusegun Odebumi, said Nigeria was practicing an envelope budget system.
He noted that the National Assembly were not the ones allocating the envelope, rather the executive does.
“You should take your fight to the executive! I think if there is a better time for the ministry to get a better allocation, the time is now,” Hon Odebumi said.
The chairman said that the budget was aimed at giving fiscal directions to Nigeria.
“Despite the very high responsibility attached to the ministry, hence, the need for more and better funding is strongly advocated for us to support the fact that information is power”, he said.
He added that for Nigerians to be more informed on the activities of government, every stakeholder in Nigeria must be willing to improve the budget of the ministry of Information.
On his part, a member of the committee, Hon. Ahmed Jaha, while responding to the low allocation complaint, advised the minister to consult the executive for budget increase.
Similarly, Hon Aniekan Umanah pointed out that the issue of under-funding of the ministry of information was a recurring decimal.
He noted that considering the important role the ministry plays in the promotion of government activities, it deserves better allocation.
Agencies under the ministry of information and Culture took turns to defend their 2023 budget allocations.
The Executive Director. News, Mr. Ahaziah Suleiman and Director of Finance, Mr. Jack Odey, presented the budget for Voice of Nigeria.
