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

If an ordinary minster can spend 13 million to travel to China alone who knows how much bubu has wasted in his ajala world tourism

I thought they said Emeka MBA stole all the money in NBC.Where did this liar expect them to cough out the money

Masquerade jobs on point

Which breeze blow for there? I thought d ape called Lai said he owes no one any explanation so why is this one trying to explain anything?

Conference on Tourism and development abi?
When they come back they should tell their counterparts in other ministries that profitable tourism goes hand-in-glove with good roads and infrastructure, efficient transportation system, electricity/reliable power supply, security and awareness.

This press release exposed the monumental fraud going on in this administration. The question is who approved this loan? Is the minster that made the request that will still approve because the last time I checked NBC is an agency under the ministry of information. The second question is what is the repayment plan? Lai Mohamed should tell us how, where and when he intends to repay the money rather than the stories about the benefit of the conference. At least financial prudence they said is the watchword of this administration. This will lead us to the third question, Is this load repayment capture in the 2016 budget, if not the money will vanish after Lai Mohamed spends it in China. The fourth question is what happens to TSA? If TSA is working as we are made to believe where is NBC getting the money to loan the Ministry if not from a separate account.
There are more things Nigerians need to know about this government especially as it concerns saying the truth and deceiving the citizens. LET NIGERIANS BE WISE.

lie muhammed, weldone ooo. God will keep exposing hypocritical nature of all who shouted change but do not want to lead by example