Funds approved by President Bola Tinubu to support the operations of agencies under the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation have been frozen for more than a week without any official explanation, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.
The funds were earmarked for agencies such as the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Voice of Nigeria (VON), National Orientation Agency (NOA) and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), all of which are supervised by the ministry.
PREMIUM TIMES could not independently verify the total amount approved by the president about three weeks ago to support the agencies’ operations.
However, multiple sources familiar with the matter said the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Binyerem Ukaire, has refused to approve the payment files because the heads of the agencies allegedly declined her request to make detailed presentations to her on their activities, the status of ongoing projects and how they intend to utilise the funds.
The sources, who spoke separately to this newspaper, argued that the permanent secretary’s demand is inconsistent with established civil service practice and suggested that her action was improper.
