

2025 BUDGET: Sen. Eze Canvasses Increment for Information and National Orientation Ministry
The Senate Committee on Appropriation has moved for upward review of the 2025 budget of the Ministry of Information and National Orientation following Sen. Eze’s call in view of the strategic position and enormous responsibility of the ministry and its agencies.
Presenting the report of the Committee of Information and National Orientation On Friday , the Chairman, Senate Committee Information and National Orientation,Engr. Kenneth Eze (APC ) Ebonyi Central Senatorial district canvasses the importance of increasing the budget of the Ministry to allow it perform its responsibilities effectively.
He argued that the ministry and its agencies are saddled with a lot of responsibilities which require adequate resources to enhance its operation.
“As a committee that oversight this sector, we have carefully followed this mInistry and it has performed its job creditably well and that goes to tell you the level of stability we have in the information space considering the level of economic difficulties and the level of challenges in this country .
“The information ministry has been able to disseminate information on the policies of the government. People are beginning to understand that the government is doing much in trying to ameliorate the suffering of the people . So the minister has done very well”
Senator Adams Oshiomole reacting to Sen. Eze’s submission queries the proprietary of allocating resources to agencies with less potential for economic growth, insisting that the envelope system shouldn’t be jettisoned as there are limited resources in the coffers of the government but rather prioritize utilization of fund for optimal result.
The former labour leader argued that Nigeria has continued to borrow to finance the budget and the reaction of Nigerians indicates that the National Assembly has lost its primary responsibility.
Senator Eze responded by clarifying that it is difficult to achieve much without funding for any agency especially the media agencies.
“When you come to content creation, it comes with a price , for you to get the best brain, you need to fund it . That is why one of the most expensive properties is intellectual property and when you get the best brain to create content for you, it comes with a price and that is why you need more funding in this sector .
“When you say how those given zero allocation survive , that is why their cases are very pathetic and there is a need for this committee to look into it . Last year I can authoritatively tell you that the Press Council could not pay salaries. I oversight that Ministry and they are in a rented apartment , a government agency to be in a rented apartment and they are owing, they couldn’t pay , so it is pathetic, he said.
“They aren’t surviving, they are just eking out of living and that is why this appropriation committee needs to do something and do it very urgently. They are not a revenue generating agency but are there to regulate the press and the media”.
Meanwhile , senator kenneth Eze further highlighted the need to amend the obsolete laws that have hampered the operational performance of National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to making it a viable agency for revenue generation. In his words, “When you talk about the National Broadcasting Commission l(NBC) , they regulate the Electronic Media and they are expected to generate revenue but I can tell you that they have over one hundred cases in the court . None of these media are paying because they will normally take them to court.
“We are looking at their Acts to see how we can help them. The National Assembly can help them so that all these backlog of cases preventing them from performing there duties can be reduced. So I can tell you that this agencies need maximum support to perform there duties,” Eze said.
The Vice Chairman of the Appropriation Committee Senator Mohammed Monguno who stood in for the Chairman Senator Adeola Olamilekan in his submission. stated that there is absolute need for proper funding of the Ministry and agencies to compete favourably.
“Yes I agree with you that there is need for adequate funding of information sub-sector in order to discharge their responsibility adequately, so they can compete favourably with there pairs, especially NTA There is need to adequately fund NTA so that it can compete with its pairs in private sector and also project positively the image of Nigeria across the globe . For them to perform this task, they have to compete with BBC , CNN, South Africa Broadcasting Service and others.”
The Borno State lawmaker stated the need to acquire modern equipment to enable them to do this job properly, emphasizing the need for the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to be given maximum support because of its unique role in value re-orientation.