The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Ethics and Values, Olusola Fatoba, has assured of improved budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Information and National Orientation in 2025.

Mr Fatoba said when he paid an oversight visit to the ministry in Abuja.

He said, “We are on the same page with the minister on the issue of low budgetary allocation for the ministry in the 2024 budget. The ministry cannot perform its function effectively with poor funding. We would do everything within our powers, including lobbying to ensure that the ministry is better funded to perform its function of educating Nigerians on government programmes and policies.

“We would also work with stakeholders to ensure improved budgetary allocation for the ministry in the 2025 budget to enable it to carry out its functions effectively, and deliver on its mandate.”

Speaking, the information minister, Mohammed Idris, said that in the 2023 meeting with the committee, discussions were targeted at improved funding for the information and orientation sectors of the country.

“I know the efforts that the chairman and members of the committee, together with their counterparts in the Senate, put in to ensure that my ministry is properly funded to execute its mandate. Theirs and our combined efforts have not given us the kind of budget that we should have for this ministry in view of the transformative journey that the ministry has embarked upon.

“We believe that the ministry has a critical role to play in ensuring that everything that the government wants to do is properly communicated, and Nigerians get to know, understand and support government policies and programmes.

However, criticism is a healthy thing and we all know that President Bola Tinubu is a democrat who is always open to criticism that are healthy, progressive and aimed at moving the country forward. Meanwhile, we at the ministry are unhappy with the kind of budget that we have, because, the allocation being made for the ministry is to say the least meagre,” Mr Idris said.

The minister lauded the committee for its support, adding that the executive was looking at the challenges being faced by the ministry to ensure that it got the appropriate funding to transform the sector.

Mr Idris said that sometimes the ministry had to go the extra mile to use its contacts and goodwill within the industry to get things done.

“I think that Nigerians, especially the media, are ready to help.  But of course, we also know that they are in business. They need to power their generators and pay their staff. Therefore, we also need to pay them.  We should not take the relationship for granted,” Mr Idris said.

(NAN)