Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Information and Strategy has presented a total budgetary outlay of N911,930,000 (Nine Hundred and Eleven Million, Nine Hundred and Thirty Thousand Naira) for the 2021 fiscal year.
Presenting the budget before the House Committee on Appropriation and Finance earlier today, Friday 12th November, 2020, the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Comrade Ini Ememobong said, the budget size is less than that of the current budget of 2020, due to the prevailing dwindling revenue occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Comrade Ini Ememobong who reiterated that, the 2021 budget has been slightly increased to cater for the reconstruction work on AKBC temporary headquarters vandalized recently by hoodlums at the wake of the #EndSARS protest, said, activities lined up for 2021 are geared towards the continuous promotion of Governor Udom Emmanuel’s Eight-point Completion Agenda.
He prayed the Appriopration and Finance Committee to approve the Budgetary provisions to enable the Ministry successfully carry out its onerous and enormous mandate, especially in consideration that only 50.3 percent budgetary performance was realized in 2020.
The Information Boss enumerated the activities to be undertaken by the Ministry in the 2021 fiscal year to include: effective dissemination of information on government programmes, media and Public Relations campaigns, job creation through Youth awareness campaigns, training and empowerment programmes in Photography, Videography and Editing, Community Mobilization Programmes and development of the Media and Citizens’ centre.
Others include: rehabilitation of the Government Printing Press, activation of the Goss Community Printing press, overhaul and procurement of broadcasting infrastructure for the new AKBC TV studio, Development of the State Archive and Zonal Information offices as well as the provision of high definition Public address system and multi-media equipment, among others.
Responding, the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Rt. Hon. Uduak Odudoh, expressed satisfaction with the presentation of Ministry of Information and Strategy and said, the Committee will favourably look into the 2021 budgatary provisions of the Ministry to enable it carry out its assigned responsibilities which are cardinal for the efficient running of the Information machinery of government.
Rt. Hon. Uduak Odudoh, used the occasion to sympathize with the Ministry over the attack on AKBC temporary corporate headquarters and expressed the readiness of the Committee to do all it can to ensure the budgetary provisions are approved so that, the affected building can be reconstructed and efforts geared at commencement of work at the Permanent headquarters at Ntak Inyang transmitting station.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy was accompanied to the budget presentation by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. inyang Jameson, the DG of Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Corporation, AKBC, Pastor Anietie Ukpe, the MD of Akwa Ibom Newspaper Corporation, AKNC, Mr. Umoette Umoette, the Chairman of Ethical and Attitudinal Re-orientation Commission, EARCOM, Dr. Dorothy Thompson and Directors in the Ministry of Information and Strategy.
