Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture disclosed yesterday during an interaction with online publishers in Lagos that 21 individuals and companies received N54.65bn from the $2.1bn arms deal scandal front lined by the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
The minister while making comparison said what 21 individuals and companies received from the arms deal was higher than what the Federal Government budgeted for zonal intervention programmes across the country in 2015 by N2.83bn, adding that corruption was the reason government programmes don’t make the required impact.
He said, “The simple reason is that appropriated funds have ended up in the pockets of a few. “Whereas the sum of N51.83bn was appropriated for 1,278 projects in the Zonal Intervention Projects for 2015, a total of 21 individuals and companies benefited from the Dasukigate to the tune of N54.66bn as we know so far.
‘“The implication, therefore, is that the amount received by 21 individuals and companies is more than the 2015 Zonal Intervention Project budget by N2.83bn! “Furthermore, the value of what beneficiaries of Dasukigate contributed to development is zero, compared to how the lives of Nigerians would have been transformed, poverty reduced and livelihoods improved by the Zonal Intervention Projects which would have cost N2.83bn less than Dasukigate.”
On the regulation on online media, the minister said it was not necessary to regulate online publications because the publishers are responsible enough to regulate themselves. He, however, told the publishers to ensure that they maintain credibility.
“If the online publications suffer credibility problems, they stand the risk of losing the confidence of their readers and the advertisers who provide the lifeblood for the publications’ survival,” he said. He said while the number of online publications was bound to grow in the days ahead, only the credible ones would continue to enjoy patronage, either from the readers or from the advertisers.
The minister said it was in the interest of government that online publications continue to grow in number because the more the number of such publications, the easier it becomes to bridge the information gap between the government and the governed, and the easier it becomes for the government to carry the citizens along in the formulation and implementation of policies that touch on their lives.
He promised that the Federal Government would patronise the online publications through adverts. Mohammed said, “All we ask for, in return, is that you provide accurate information to the people, and avoid sensationalism and partisanship.
