PRESS RELEASE
My attention has been drawn to a letter
I endorsed to the Ag. Director General, National Broadcasting Commission
requesting for a loan of N13,120,470.00 to cover tickets and travel expenses of
a five-member delegation being led by the Honourable Minister of Information and
Culture to Beijing, China, which was mischievously leaked to the social media
by staff of National Broadcasting Commission.
2. The loan being requested for is for the
Ministry to meet up its obligations to enable the Minister and members of his
delegation attend an all important Conference on Tourism for Development in
China, that is meant to benefit this country.
3. The
loan is not meant for the Honourable Minister alone as personal expenses, but
for the expenses of all members of the delegation.
4. The Conference, which is
being organized by the
United Nations World Tourism Organisation in
conjunction with the Government of the People’s Republic of China, under the
overall theme “Tourism for Peace and Development,” will feature amongst others
discussions on major issues for sustainable development including the
contribution of Tourism to poverty reduction and peace.
5. The
Conference will also feature discussion on major issues that have direct
bearing on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), poverty alleviation through
Tourism and the linkage between Tourism peace at the National and International
levels.
6. China on this occasion as chair of G20 will
also host the 7th T20 Ministers meeting under the theme “Sustainable
Tourism, An Effective Tool for Inclusive Development.''
7. The Conference is a veritable platform to develop
synergy and partnership with players in the global Tourism Industry which will
go a long way in boosting our drive to diversify the Nigerian
economy.
8. It is also important to note that the
Minister and his delegation were to have discussion in China with Set Top
Box Manufacturers, who are meant to establish manufacturing factories in Nigeria for these
boxes for our digital
broadcasting processes, rather than the current situation in
which the boxes are being imported. This is meant to conserve our foreign exchange
and to also create avenue for job creation for our citizens.
9. From the foregoing, it is clear that the Conference is an all important gathering that will
benefit Nigeria, contribute towards diversification of its revenue base and
create employment opportunities for Nigerians.
10. Again, it is not unusual for an agency under
the Ministry to assist in order to carry out government functions. Moreover, the request was discussed with the
Ag. Director General NBC, who agreed to assist with the loan before the letter
was written. It is therefore shocking to
find out that an internal memorandum from the Ministry could be leaked out to
the social media by saboteurs in order to embarrass the government.
11. Please note, multiple letters were not
written to government agencies as alleged, we only wrote to NBC after
discussing with the Ag. DG. Payments
were to be effected if the fund were loaned out based on extant financial
regulations. There is nothing wrong with
the request of the Ministry to meet up with an important assignment meant to
benefit the country.
12. Finally, the loan that was requested for is NOT meant for Lai Mohammed as being imputed
but for the entire five
members of the delegation to cover for tickets,
travel allowances and other incidentals.
Dama, N.P.D.
Director, Public
Relations and Protocol
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