When Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, appeared before the Senate Committee on Information on Tuesday along with heads of agencies under his ministry to defend the 2023 budget proposal, he expressed concern that the funds allocated for his ministry to combat hate speech and fake news would not be sufficient. Additionally, he revealed that the recent terror alert that was issued in Nigeria by the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries severely damaged the country’s reputation and economy.

He made an appeal to the Committee led by Senator Danladi Sankara to grant his ministry the necessary funding in order to combat hate speech, disinformation, and fake news. The most recent example of this was the terror warning that the United States, United Kingdom, and other countries raised in Nigeria.

The 2023 budget includes N81.7 million set out for the ministry’s anti-fake news efforts.

The Ministry of Information need to get sufficient funding and not be subjected to annual budget cuts.
“Although refuted, the terror alert issued by the United States and certain other nations against Nigeria was not adequately contextualized, leading to the incorrect perception being taken as fact.

Due to the annual funding cuts, the Ministry is even less able to carry out its fundamental duties of keeping Nigerians informed about the government’s stance on pressing problems.

“Distinguished Senators, I’m extremely sad as far as yearly budgetary cuts are concerned, because it is getting worse and worse by the day.

“A concerning illustration of this is that, although the Information Ministry was allocated N2.5 billion for capital expenditures in 2022, N869 million, or one-third of the total, is designated in the 2023 budget proposal for a comparable reason.

“This is really disheartening for the Ministry as it appears that they are the primary organization facing financial difficulties on behalf of the government,” he stated.
However, Senator Danladi Sankara, the committee chairman, reminded the minister that since the federal budget’s capital vote component fell from N2.5 trillion to N1 trillion, annual budget cuts affect all MDAs, not just the Information Ministry.