The House of Representatives Committee on Culture and Tourism has promised to look into the allegation of over 30 % slash in the 2021 budget proposal of the Ministry of Information and Culture.
The House Committee Chairman on Culture and Tourism, Mr.Ugbeide Ihama made the promise when he appeared before the Committee to defend the 2022 budget on Thursday.
Making the work difficult
The Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed expressed displeasure that the Parliament cut short the Ministry’s 2021 budget with over 30%, thus making the work difficult in the period under review.
The Minister said the main challenge that has been facing the Ministry in the discharge of its mandate is inadequate funding.
“The funding of the Ministry has been grossly inadequate over the years. If the Parliament believes in the diversification agenda of the government then the slashing of the Ministry’s 2021 shouldn’t have happened,” he said.
The Committee Chairman Mr.Ihama exonerated the Committee from the budget slash allegation and promised to launch an investigation into the issue.
“If at all this Committee made any adjustments in that 2021 proposal it wasn’t more than 5%.So I don’t understand where over 30%slash came from.We did that using established parameters, which is the standard in that regard,” he stated.
The Committee Chairman said he was of the strong believe that the Culture and Tourism sector is the future of the country’s diversification plan and must be properly financed.
The Ministry put forward the Ministry’s 2022 budget proposal worth about #7.845 billion.
Lateefah Ibrahim
