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Tag: Lai Mohammed

  • FG cautions Nigerians travelling to US, Europe

    FG cautions Nigerians travelling to US, Europe

    The Federal Government has advised Nigerians travelling to Europe and the United States to take extra precautions to avoid being dispossessed of their belongings.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed gave the advice on Monday in Abuja at the fifth edition of the ‘President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) Administration Scorecard 2015-2023 Series’.

    The scorecard series was organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture and the fifth edition witnessed presentations by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammad Abubakar.

    In an opening remark, Mohammed said the advice became imperative because of recent developments where Nigerian travellers to the US and some countries in Europe were having their belongings, especially money and international passports, stolen.

    The minister said the incidences had reached an increasingly high rate and therefore the need for the advice.

    “The most recent victims of this were travelers to the UK, most of whom were dispossessed of their belongings at high brow shops, particularly in the high street of Oxford.

    “We have therefore decided to advise Nigerians travelling to Europe and the United States to take extra precaution to avoid being dispossessed of their belongings.

    “This is not your typical travel advisory. Issuing such is the prerogative of our embassies/high commissions as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    “It is merely a piece of advice to Nigerians who may be visiting the affected parts of the world,” he said.

    Speaking on the scorecard series, he said it was designed to showcase the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development subsequently made his presentations, after which he took questions from the media men at the event.

  • We won’t allow Twitter, Google, others to spark crisis in Nigeria – Lai Mohammed

    We won’t allow Twitter, Google, others to spark crisis in Nigeria – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said Twitter, Facebook, Google and the like would not be allowed to throw the country into a crisis situation.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Mohammed made this disclosure at the 3rd edition of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration scorecard 2015-2023 series in Abuja on Thursday.

    The Information Minister disclosed that the government was especially monitoring the situation at Twitter following the takeover by Elon Musk.

    Mohammed said his office had been inundated with a lot of inquiries in recent times on what will become of the FG agreement with Twitter in view of the change in its ownership.

    “Many have asked for our reaction following reports that there has been a spike in fake news, disinformation and hate speech since the micro-blogging site changed ownership. Many have even asked us if another ban is in the offing?

    “Let me say this: We are closely monitoring the evolving developments at Twitter. It has never been our intention to ban any social media platform or stifle free speech. Not at all.

    “What happened in the case of Twitter is well known to all. Twitter became a platform of choice for those who want to destabilize Nigeria, using fake news, disinformation and hate speech. No nation will allow any social media platform to plunge it into anarchy. Definitely not Nigeria.

    “But we have continued to engage positively with the different social media platforms, including Facebook, Google (owners of YouTube) and Twitter.

    “We have no intention of banning any social media platform again. But we will also not sit by and allow any platform whatsoever to throw our nation into crisis,” the Minister said.

  • We are monitoring activities on Twitter – Minister of information

    We are monitoring activities on Twitter – Minister of information

    Speaking at the 3rd edition of the ‘PMB Administration Scorecard 2015-2023’ series on Thursday, the Minister of information, Lai Mohammed stated that, the government is monitoring activities on Twitter following its takeover by a new owner.

    According to Lai, he said “Many have asked for our reaction following reports that there has been a spike in fake news, disinformation and hate speech since the micro-blogging site changed ownership.

    “Many have even asked us if another ban is in the offing. Let me say this: We are closely monitoring the evolving developments at Twitter.

    “It has never been our intention to ban any social media platform or stifle free speech. Not at all.

    “What happened in the case of Twitter is well known to all. Twitter became a platform of choice for those who want to destabilize Nigeria using fake news, disinformation and hate speech.

    “No nation will allow any social media platform to plunge it into anarchy. Definitely not Nigeria. But we have continued to engage positively with the different social media platforms, including Facebook, Google (owners of YouTube) and Twitter.

    “We have no intention of banning any social media platform again. But we will also not sit by and allow any platform whatsoever to throw our nation into crisis.”

  • A minister’s difficult journey to the National Assembly – By Okoh Aihe

    A minister’s difficult journey to the National Assembly – By Okoh Aihe

    It can be exasperatingly helpless when somebody tries to make a point and nobody seems to understand. So it was the other day as the Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made a passionate appeal to the lawmakers at the National Assembly to, at least, add more funds to his 2023 budget to enable his ministry perform its responsibilities in the remaining but challenging days of this administration. He was stone-walled by a group of people who seemed to have woken up on the wrong side that very day or probably waited long for the opportunity to deal him a telling blow.

    The reputation of the minister precedes him. You hate him before you see him. People jump to a conclusion before they even hear him. And working for a government whose success is harboured only in the imagination of those who work for it, his job, which he has pursued with unwavering loyalty and doggedness, is particularly difficult, thus earning him some unsavoury sobriquet and a natural attraction to loathsomeness. But he is never one to turn his back in a battle. So, he is resolute in every sense of his job at the Information ministry.

    Lai Mohammed had a case, and a very good one, in my opinion. He had gone before the House Committee on Information to defend the 2023 Budget of his Ministry. With him were his lieutenants from the parastatals under him, which include: Voice of Nigeria (VON), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) and Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON). It was his final budget defence, he wanted to leave on high personally and leave the ministry in some financial comfort and buoyancy.

    What he got was a shocker. While the ministry enjoyed an approval of N2.5bn in 2022 as capital budget, with N1bn of that sum going to the ministry; for 2023, the House has only approved N869m capital budget for the entire ministry with the ministry itself getting a miserly N346m, making Mohammed to cry out that his ministry “has been dealt a very heavy card in this year’s budgetary allocation.”

    Just looking at the parastatals alone tells you that Mohammed has a very important job to do for the government. Apart from ARCON, the other ones like VON, NTA and NAN are major vehicles of mass mobilisation and information dissemination. Without speaking for the minister, media is not cheap; making it work and getting the right personnel is even more challenging.

    But his concerns are much more than that. Fighting hate speech, fake news and disinformation, which have been his major obsession, serious push back at the international community to educate them on the goings-on in Nigeria, instead of the kind of advisory issued recently on security by some countries, awareness campaign on the coming elections, the national census that may happen in the lifetime of this administration, and above all, just to get the right funds to properly inform Nigerians of the great work that the Buhari administration has done in nearly eight years. One thing you can say about Mohammed is that he doesn’t fit the description of some of the people the President himself accused recently of not speaking well enough of the achievements of his administration. He tries his best and he wants to continue to do so but he needs funds.

    “I fully understand the current challenges the country is facing, but I don’t agree that the ministry of information and culture at this critical time should have less, it actually should have more,” he appealed.

    The minister is only getting a small taste of what happens to the media each time there is a little dip in the economy. The media is the first to be affected. Everybody loves the media. They want to be seen, they want to be heard, and they want lofty stories written about them, sometimes, just celebrating their inanities. But they cut the budget, take advertising from the media or, in some other orchestrations, make it impossible for the media to operate.

    Apart from some kind of excuses the lawmakers pleaded, I want to observe here that the minister was unfairly treated. He got a raw deal. Some obviously have premeditated reasons for not listening to the length of his appeal. Apart from the Committee Chairman, Hon. Olusegun Odebunmi, who counselled the minister to return to the executive to launch his appeal, a member of the Committee, Hon. Ahmed Jaha, simply told the minister it was hard for them to do anything as the National Assembly members had been serially accused of padding budgets.

    “It’s the same federal government that will come through the ministry of information and accuse the National Assembly of padding the budget. So, minister, I want you to understand that we are being placed between the devil and the deep blue sea,” the lawmaker said without mincing words.

    It was payback time, and that smacks of some cheapness. In the description of the 6th Edition of the Nigerian Broadcasting Code, both NTA and VON are public broadcasters which should be funded by the government or the public, as they shouldn’t generate money through advertising. But the Nigeria situation is amorphous as the public broadcaster, like the NTA, collects lots of money from advertising, but accounting for such revenue has always been a matter of concern. It then becomes difficult to make a case for government support but it does not absolve government of its responsibilities to the stations.

    Irony has no respect for anybody, not even the occupant of the big office of the minister who has only been made to experience what it means to have power and yet be castrated into helplessness. Which is what he has done to broadcast operators since he assumed office. Under his watch, private broadcasters have been made to feel pain as they are often threatened or sanctioned without following due process. It is not that the broadcast regulator, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) would not know what to do, it is often pressured to expedite the speed of punishment and impose sanctions.

    It may not be superfluous to also point out to the minister that some of the parastatals under him, like the VON, NTA and NAN, have not been properly run, and that could irritate some people, including the lawmaker who accused the platforms of being used by the government against the legislative arm. They are public channels but their public seems to be approximated only by the government. Opposition parties or even dissenting voices have no place in their programming arrangement. Good professionals who should be allowed to thrive in their trade are micromanaged by the ministry and thrust on the borderline of mediocrity, to their shame and impotence. Were the government outfits allowed to run more professionally, perhaps it would have more support from the advert market, no matter how incongruous the idea is, and enjoy more hefty votes from the National Assembly.

    And this leaves me with a plea. Is it possible for the minister to spruce up the operations of the agencies under his ministry – NTA, VON and NAN, among others before the end of this administration, early next year? At least make them run like media outfits and not some kind of rag-tag ministerial appendages. It will be a befitting parting gift. But is such a good thing capable of coming from this administration with tendentious fidelity to the illusory reality of life in our nation, and obtuse entitlement to non-existent achievements? I wait to be proved wrong.

  • 2023 census e-portal now open

    2023 census e-portal now open

    Federal Commissioner, National Population Commission (NPC) in Oyo State, Dr Eyitayo Oyetunji, on Tuesday, said that the e-recruitment portal for the 2023 population and housing census had been opened.

    Oyetunji said at a news briefing in Ibadan that the portal was launched by the Chairman of NPC, Nasir Kwarra, at the commission’s headquarters on Oct. 31.

    “With the launch of the portal, the recruitment process of functionaries for the 2023 population and housing census has formally commenced.

    “Several other publicity activities will follow to ensure that no credible candidate is left behind in the state and to forestall misinformation and exploitation of prospective candidates.

    “As you may recall, the commission had earlier launched the e-recruitment portal for the conduct of the 2022 trial census.

    “I’m happy to inform you all that it was a huge success and that lessons have been learnt and integrated to put up a much-improved e-recruitment portal for the successful conduct of the next population and housing census in April 2023,” he said.

    The federal commissioner added that to carry out the task of conducting accurate and reliable census, there was the need for the recruitment of manpower that would carry out the exercise.

    “Hence the portal has been launched with the some key objectives, one of which is to ensure that the process of recruiting the needed functionaries to conduct the census is fair and transparent.

    “Two, to facilitate the establishment of a database that will create and track the identity of all those to be engaged for the census exercise and three, to pave way for computation and efficient payment of allowances of all engaged functionaries.

    “For the census exercise, applications are to be made through the portal for facilitators, training centre administrators, monitoring and evaluations officers, data quality managers, data quality assistants, supervisors and enumerators.

    “The number of functionaries to be recruited in each category will depend on the number of available vacancies in each state, which will be derived largely from the total number of enumeration areas (EAs).

    “To ensure a fair, efficient and transparent recruitment process, the federal commissioners will, in addition to the existing team at the state level, constitute a Local Government Area Recruitment Team (LRRT), comprising three persons,” he said.

    Oyetunji said that the commission was particular about the quality of staffers that would perform the census activities.

    “This is very important, more so that the commission is conducting a fully-digital census for the first time in the history of census taking in Nigeria.

    “Therefore, having good knowledge of the content of the census document, the technique and the organisation of the census process is key to the success of the exercise.

    “The quality of the recruitment process will reflect on the quality of the data to be collected and ultimately, the success of the census.

    “While a good recruitment exercise will not, by itself, necessarily guarantee a successful census, a badly conducted recruitment process will inevitably lead to problems and increase the risk of an unsuccessful census,” he said.

    Oyetunji assured that bulk of personnel for the census would be drawn from the communities where they were residing.

    “This is to ensure understanding of local languages, elicit acceptance and remove the huge logistics of moving personnel across communities.

    “Consequently, every community will have the opportunity of contributing to the census workforce, thereby ensuring that people are adequately counted.

    “Special provision has been made to accommodate the physically-challenged and other special populations in the recruitment process,” he said.

    The federal commissioner gave the link for the portal as: http//2023censusadhocrecruitment.nationalpopulation.gov.ng

    According to him, the commission has provided hotlines that are open at the situation room at the headquarters for further information and enquiries, that is, 07000236787 and 07000CENSUS.

    Oyetunji, however, re-assured the people of the state that the commission was on course and would continue to be fair and transparent, as the 2023 census approached.

  • “I have no regrets being President Buhari’s minister” – Lai Mohammed

    “I have no regrets being President Buhari’s minister” – Lai Mohammed

    Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed says he has no regret being a minister in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The minister stated this on Tuesday in Abuja when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Information and National Orientation to defend the ministry’s 2023 budget proposal.

    Responding to a question by a member of the committee, the minister said it was a privilege for him to be called upon to serve his fatherland and he had been discharging his duties effectively.

    Speaking on his challenges, the minister said the ministry was not adequately funded to discharge its mandate of management of the image and reputation of the country and the promotion of its cultures.

    He said with the advent of the new media, his job, like that of other information managers, became more cumbersome.

    He expressed, regret, however, that there was no corresponding funding to match new problems being created by the social media.

    The minister said notwithstanding the challenges, the ministry recorded tremendous achievements in the past seven years when he had been the minister.

    “What I would consider the biggest achievement is deepening information flow between the government and the governed.

    “Democracy is about the participation of all citizens, and nothing enhances citizens’ participation more than enhancing a two-way communication between the government and the governed,’’ he said.

    In enhancing people’s participation in governance, the minister said he introduced town hall meetings where ministers told Nigerians what they were doing.

    The meetings also afforded Nigerians opportunities to ask questions in a no-holds-barred manner and also offer suggestions to government, he said.

    Mohammed said till date, the ministry had held more than 20 town hall meetings on major issues across the six geopolitical zones of the country.

    The minister said he had regular media briefings, media appearances and had engaged in massive advocacy on issues of national importance to sensitise the public.

    The advocacies, according to him, included seeking support for the military, advocacy against fake news, disinformation and hate speech and advocacy against abuse of social media.

    The minister said the ministry massively showcased the achievements of the administration through media tours of government projects across Nigeria.

    “We have regularly engaged with the international media and international NGOs to deepen their knowledge on critical national issues and ensure a positive global perception of the country.

    “We have deepened stakeholders engagements, held meetings with professional media bodies like the Nigeria Union of Journalists, the National Association of Women Journalists, Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria and Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria,’’ he said.

    Mohammed said the ministry also embarked on massive advocacy to enlighten Nigerians about COVID-19, the pandemic that killed almost seven million people across the world.

    He said without vaccines and drugs at the beginning of the pandemic, information was the most potent way to curtail the spread of the virus.

    The minister said he launched “Change Begins with Me’’ campaign aimed at attitudinal change among Nigerians.

    He said the ministry spearheaded changes in the Nigerian Broadcasting Code and the Act setting up the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria to enhance their efficiency and effectiveness.

    Mohammed said the ministry successfully hosted two international events.

    They were the 61st meeting of African Ministers in charge of Tourism, under the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO), and the recently-concluded 2022 UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy Week.

    The minister added that the ministry would soon host the UNWTO global conference on tourism, culture and the creative industry at the National Arts Theatre in Lagos, from Nov.14 to Nov.16, 2022.

  • Champion advocacy for 2023 census – Lai Mohammed to media houses

    Champion advocacy for 2023 census – Lai Mohammed to media houses

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday, called on media houses, especially Federal Government media to champion the advocacy for successful 2023 census.

    He made the call at the opening of a three-day National Capacity Building Workshop on 2023 Population and Housing Census for state directors and management staff of National Orientation Agency (NOA) by National Population Commission (NPC) in Abuja.

    Represented by Dr Garba Abari, the Director-General, National Orientation Agency (NOA), the minister, who described census as
    “very important milestone in National Development”, urged Radio Nigeria, Voice of Nigeria, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA)
    and others to rise to the occasion.

    He commended the National Population Commission (NPC) for the commitment toward conducting an accurate and reliable digital census come 2023.

    The Chairman of NPC, Alhaji Nasir Kwarra, said that the workshop was a demonstration of the commission’s commitment to the census.

    He added that “the conduct of this important workshop underscores the determination of the commission to effectively mobilise Nigerians,
    not only for the 2023 Census but also other activities of the commission.”

    Kwarra explained that the commission would leverage on the nationwide grassroots outreach of the NOA to communicate with
    Nigerians.

    He reiterated NPC’s need to collaborate with NOA in areas where the agency has comparative advantage over the commission, listing such
    areas as community engagements, field sensitisation campaign, engagements with traditional institutions, Community Based Organisations (CBOs), Civil Society
    Organisations, among others.

    Prof. Uba Nnabue, the Deputy Chairman, Publicity and Advocacy Committee, called for increased publicity and advocacy aimed at sensitising
    Nigerians on the importance of census.

    Nnabue expressed the willingness of the commission to collaborate with relevant agencies and the media for a successful census.

    Newsmen reports that following the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari for the next Population and
    Housing Census to be conducted in 2023, the NPC has intensified preparations to give the nation the first digital census and guide
    for development planning.

    The commission has completed the Enumeration Area Demarcation (EAD) in local government areas of the country, as well
    as the first and second Census Pretest in selected Enumeration Areas in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal
    Capital Territory in preparation for the census.

    The methodology for the next census has been designed to produce not only accurate, reliable and acceptable census
    but also inclusive and user-friendly census data.

    The National Capacity Building Workshop is therefore aimed at educating the management and state directors of NOA
    on the methodology and processes for the 2023 census.

    The workshop is also to leverage on the nationwide and grassroots reach and structures of NOA in the publicity
    campaign of the 2023 census.

  • Unity of Nigeria remains unshaken, no region can do it all alone – Lai Mohammed

    Unity of Nigeria remains unshaken, no region can do it all alone – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has reiterated that the unity of Nigeria remains unshaken and “no region can do it all alone’’.

    The minister re-echoed his position in Calabar, after a Command Performance by the cultural troupe of the Department of Culture and Heritage, Cross River Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

    Newsmen reports that the performance is part of the activities lined up for the celebration of the 2022 World Tourism Day being hosted in Calabar.

    Speaking after the command performance consisting of dances and a stage play which centered on the unity and indivisibility of Nigeria, the minister underscored the importance of peaceful coexistence in the country.

    “What we have witnessed today is a performance that is world-class by any rate.

    “I wish that those who said Nigeria is at war, should witness what we have seen today.

    “Those who said Nigeria has no future, I wish they were here today.

    “On the drama on unity, it means, not one of us can do it alone and anyone that has witnessed war before, will never wish for war or separation,’’ he said.

    Mohammed said from the dances presented by the troupe representing the six regions, there were lots of similarities.

    He said the similarities from the dances translated to the fact that “we are all one community’’ though, with diverse traditions.

    The minister hailed the cultural troupe for its outstanding performance including dexterity of steps, the symphony, the synergy and fusion of the traditional with the modern.

    He particularly extolled the drummers for their seamless fusion of the traditional drums with the modern steel bands.

    While thanking the state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade for organising the event, the minister appealed to the younger generation to embrace performing arts.

    Mr Eric Anderson, the state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, also thanked the minister and his entourage for coming to Calabar for the event.

    He said the troupe had represented the country in Egypt in 2016, Bangkok in 2018 and had been honoured globally for its outstanding performances.

    In the entourage of the minister were the Director-Generals, Nigeria Tourism Development Commission, Folorunsho Coker; Nigeria Institute of Hospitality and Tourism, Nura Kangiwa and National Commission for Museum and Monument, Prof Isa Tijani.

    Others included director- generals of the National Gallery of Art, Ebeten Ivara; National Broadcasting Commission, Balarabe Ilela; the General Manager, National Arts Theatre, Prof. Sunday Ododo; Artistic Director and CEO National Dance Troupe, Ahmed Mohammed as well as Directors in the ministry.

    Newsmen reports that World Toirism Day is celebrated annually on Sept. 27 to foster awareness on tourism’s social, cultural, political and economic values.

    The 2022 celebration being hosted in Calabar, Cross River capital, has the theme “Rethinking Tourism’’.

  • Atiku Abubakar has no jinx to break – FG

    Atiku Abubakar has no jinx to break – FG

    The Federal Government says the promise by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to ‘break the jinx’ in infrastructure financing, if elected president in 2023, is worn.

    According to the Federal Government, President Muhammadu Buhari has long done so.

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said this at a media briefing on Thursday in Abuja.

    The minister was reacting to the recent Economic Blueprint unveiled by Atiku, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections.

    “We state unequivocally, that the worst jinx in infrastructure financing was the PDP administration from 1999 to 2015.

    “Indeed, the Buhari administration has long broken that jinx, leveraging on such innovative schemes as the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), Sukuk, and the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme (RITCS),” he said

    According to the minister, the PIDF is being used to finance the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, 2nd Niger Bridge, and the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road, while Sukuk has delivered a total of 1,881 kilometres of roads between 2017 and 2020.

    He said the RITCS was used for the construction and rehabilitation of Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba-Ilorin road, reconstruction of Apapa Wharf road, construction of Apapa-Oworonsoki-Ojota road, and the Bonny-Bodo road with bridge).

    Mohammed said that the NNPC-funded part of the RITCS was also delivering nine roads in North-Central, three in North-East, two in North-West, two in South-East, three in South-South, and two in South-West for a total of 1,804 kilometres of roads.

    He said the Buhari administration’s “warm handshake’’ with the private sector had delivered and was delivering an unprecedented number of projects.

    The projects according to the minister, included, the 650,000bpd Dangote Refinery, Dangote Fertilizer plant, Lekki Deep Sea Port, BUA Cement, the 5,000bpd Waltersmith Modular Refinery in Imo State and the 2,500bpd Duport Modular Refinery/Energy Park in Edo.

    They also included the 2,000bpd Atlantic Modular Refinery in Bayelsa State; the 12,000bpd Azikel Modular Refinery also in Bayelsa; the five LPG Bottling plants and six LPG depots in 10 northern states and Abuja.

    Others are the 48,000 L/D base oil production plant in Rivers and the 10,000 Metric Tonnes Per Day methanol production plant in Bayelsa, just to mention a few.

    The minister said the refineries and other projects were the result of a ”warm handshake” between the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board and private sector actors.

    On power, the minister said Atiku’s promise to propose legislation to, among others give states the power to generate, transmit and distribute electricity, was also not new.

    “It is amazing that His Excellency the former vice president has not heard or read that the Senate has passed the electricity bill 2022 that will allow states to generate and distribute power as well as solve the sector’s challenges,’’ he said.

    Mohammed said contrary to Atiku’s position, the Federal Government’s investments in additional generation capacity were not futile and had consideration for the complementary transmission and distribution infrastructure.

    He said the Nigeria-Siemens partnership consummated in 2019 to improve “the seemingly-intractable power sector on which the PDP frittered more than 16 billion dollars to procure nothing but darkness would be a game changer.

    “The three-phase project will deliver 7,000MW in the first phase, 11,000MW in the second phase and 25,000MW in the third phase.

    “This will positively impact job creation, boost investor confidence, accelerate economic growth and reduce cost of doing business.

    “For those who may be in doubt, let me say that this project is a game changer. As you may have read, electricity equipment ordered under the project have started arriving in the country.

    “When they are installed, there will be a major improvement in the supply of electricity across the country,’’ he said.

    The minister also faulted Atiku on his promise that poverty reduction would be the ‘centerpiece of our economic development agenda’.

    He said the Buhari administration’s National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) is unprecedented in impacting the lives of poor Nigerians directly and indirectly and creating jobs, especially for the youths, women, and the elderly.

  • FG berates Atiku’s economic blueprint as poor photocopy

    FG berates Atiku’s economic blueprint as poor photocopy

    The Federal Government says, the economic blueprint recently unveiled by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar is a “crude attempt at copying all that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has done’’.

    Abubakar is the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party for the 2023 presidential election.

    Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, told newsmen in Abuja on Thursday that Abubakar’s blueprint is a poor version of the present government’s economic strides.

    He said the blueprint unveiled by Abubakar in Lagos the previous week did not offer anything new in job creation, infrastructure financing and relationship with the private sector.

    According to the minister, other areas poorly copied by Abubakar in the blueprint were the rejuvenation of the power sector, poverty reduction, debt management and the overall management of the economy.

    “It is shocking that an opposition that has condemned all that this administration has done will turn around to weave its so-called economic blueprint around the same things that are currently being done.

    “This news conference is aimed at exposing the hypocrisy in an opposition that condemns an administration while showcasing a blueprint that is nothing, but a poor version of what’s on ground,’’ he said.

    Buttressing his point, Mohammed said the position of Abubakar in the blueprint that “reducing infrastructure deficit will enhance economy, unleash growth and wealth creation’’, is not novel.

    “No one understands this better than this sitting administration.

    “Even our worst critics will agree that our record on infrastructure development is next to none in the history of this country.

    “Across the country, we have constructed 8,352.94 kilometres of roads, rehabilitated 7,936.05 kilometres of roads, constructed 299 bridges, maintained 312 bridges and created 302,039 jobs in the process.

    “We have also delivered houses in 34 states of the federation under the first phase of the National Housing Project.

    “We were able to achieve these through a combination of budget increase and innovative infrastructure financing methods,’’ the minister stressed.

    Mohammed recalled that before the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration came to power, budget for roads component of the Federal Ministry of Works was a meagre N18.132 billion.

    He added that when Buhari got into office in 2015, the budget for the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing increased exponentially to N260.082 billion in 2016.

    The budget also increased to N274.252 billion in 2017; to N356.773 billion in 2018; to N223.255 billion in 2019; to N227.963 billion in 2020 and to N241.864 billion in 2021, he added.

    “Therefore, for anyone using this as a campaign stunt without acknowledging what we have done so far is cheap and disingenuous.

    “Let me say that I am not really very surprised that His Excellency the former vice-president only reeled out, in his so-called economic blueprint, what we have been doing in the past seven years plus.

    “That’s what you get from someone who leaves the country after losing an election, only to parachute into town when another election is due,’’ Mohammed stressed.

    The minister Mohammed commended the Buhari government for engaging in massive infrastructure development in spite of paucity of resources.