Lai laments budget cut for information ministry, says funds needed to market FG

Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, has lamented a cut in the budget proposed for his ministry.

Speaking on Tuesday when he appeared before the senate committee on information to defend his ministry’s 2023 budget, the minister said N1.072 billion capital expenditure allocated to his ministry in 2022 was not enough; and that has been slashed to N345.64 million in the 2023 budget proposal.

In the information ministry’s budget, the sum of N4.131 billion was proposed for personnel, while N959,199 was proposed for overhead costs.

“It is really a difficult situation and I do not know how we are going to handle it. In times of challenges like this, we need the information ministry to be fully equipped to properly inform the public,” Mohammed said.

“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 has 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 the board should not apply to the ministry; rather it should be increased because of the importance of information dissemination now more than ever.”

Mohammed asked the senators to increase the capital component of his ministry’s budget to enable it to carry out its duties.

On his part, Danladi Sankara, chairman of the committee, said all ministries, departments and agencies (MDA) are affected by these cuts.