Lai Mohammed, the minister of information, is upset with the federal government because the budgeted allocation for his office was reduced by more than N14.5 billion from what it received in the 2022 budget.
During the defense of his ministry’s 2023 budget request before the Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation on Tuesday in Abuja, Mohammed voiced his anger.
A review by Newsmen revealed that while the Information Ministry’s total financial allotment in 2022 was N78,778,194,041, the ministry will receive N64,239,951,994 out of the N20.51 trillion overall budget that President Muhammadu Buhari will give to the National Assembly for 2023.
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On October 7, 2022, Buhari delivered the speech to a joint session of the legislative body.
He stated that the appropriation bill was created to address important issues and lay a strong foundation for the administration that will take office on May 29, 2023, the date of his departure.
However, Mohammed claimed that the approximately 20% reduction in his ministry’s budget for 2023 will make it “impossible” for the ministry to fulfill its legal obligations.
The National Orientation Agency (NOA), one of the agencies under his ministry, had its budget for jingles and other publicity cut by N726,360,000, to the explicit displeasure of the minister.
“It is really a difficult situation and I do not know how we are going to handle it. In times of challenges like this, that our country is going through, we need the information ministry to be fully equipped to properly inform the public
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“This is the time the people need information and the voice of government should be heard on what we are doing in the areas of security, infrastructure and other sectors.
“We also need to tell the world what the government had done in the last seven years and we need funds for all these.
“I also believe that the 30 percent cut in the 2023 budget proposal across board should not apply to the ministry, rather it should be increased because of the importance of information dissemination now more than ever,” he said.
Mohammed pleaded with the legislators to take into account raising the ministry’s budget so it could successfully carry out its statutory duties.
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