The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Thursday said his only “sin” was that he spoke too much before the 2015 general election which brought in the All Progressive Congress (APC) into power.
“I believe that my only sin is talking too much before the elections and now I have to pay the price,” the Minister said.
Lai Mohammed, who is the former Publicity Secretary of the party, said this while speaking at the inaugural town hall meeting, entitled ‘Buharimeter’, holding in Abuja.
The town hall meeting is aimed at gauging the achievements of the President Buhari administration in the past year.
Also present at the town hall meeting are – the Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Audu Ogbeh (Agriculture and Rural Development), Amina Mohammed (Environment), and Udo Udoma (Budget and National Planning).
“Long before the first year anniversary we had embarked on our own town hall meeting to give the citizens feedbacks on our achievements. The first one was held in Lagos.”
“Any meaningful assessment must be situated within the right context. We campaigned on three broad areas, corruption, revamp the economy and security. Have we met our targets? If you ask me, I will say we are on track.”
Speaking on security, Mohammed said the federal government faced severe challenges in ending the Boko Haram menace, noting that government has fought the insurgency to a near halt.
Mohammed, who has faced severe media criticism since the advent of the present administration, noted that corruption was the reason why the war against terrorism was prolonged.
He said corruption had worsened the electricity situation in the country even as government has sunk millions of dollars into the power sector.
Mohammed also disclosed that the federal government will recover more looted funds, adding that so far, the monies recovered was just the tip of an iceberg.
The Minister further noted that the crash of oil prices was a huge worry but however, stated that the administration has the political will and discipline to fulfill its electoral promise to Nigerians.
“In the coming weeks, the conditional cash transfer will commence, the free meal, vocational training and so on would also begin.”