The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has denied a statement credited to him where he was quoted saying that the federal government does not know who will sign the 2017 budget into law when it is finally submitted to the Presidency.
News broke out at the early hours of Wednesday that the minister was reported to have told State House correspondents, after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, on Wednesday that the decision on who to sign the budget will be taken “when it is transmitted to the Presidency”
Speaking through his Special Adviser, Segun Adeyemi, the minister denied ever saying things like that.
The statement made available to newsmen said “Our attention has been drawn to a story in a section of the media quoting, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture as saying, ‘we don’t know who will sign the 2017 budget’.
“This quote is a malicious misrepresentation of what transpired at the post-Federal Executive Council Meeting press briefing on Wednesday, 17 May 2017.
“When the Minister was asked a question relating to the signing of the 2017 Budget, his response was: ‘When it is transmitted to the Presidency, the issue will be addressed.’
“Anything beyond that response amounts to deliberate mischief and should be ignored”, he stated.
