Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, says President Bola Tinubu was sincere to Nigerians in alleviating the hardship being faced in the country.
Idris made this comment at a Business lunch organised for him and other ministers by the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) on Thursday, in Abuja.
Drawing reference from the recent negotiation with the labour union, the minister said that the government delegation had to get back to the president when labour unions were adamant that the least they will take is N40,000.
“After back and forth for about two hours, and because we want to the truthful to Nigerians, we decided that some of us should go back and discuss with the president before we continue negotiation. We went back to him and after analytical discussion, the Federal Government felt it was comfortable with N35,000.
“President Tinubu said if we can pay, please we should pay, but if we know that we cannot pay, we should not go and make a promise that we cannot fulfill. This shows that the President is very sincere about his intention to make this wage increment to Labour and the Nigerian workers a reality”.
According to the Minister, “There is need to restore credibility in government information and communication so that people can start to see the need to believe and trust the people they elected into positions of authority”.
Earlier, while some members of NPAN advocated for revival of the National Orientation Agency, (NOA) and the restructuring of national broadcasting, others complained that the media was shocking and needed help, incentives and press freedom.
The Business Lunch attracted personalities from the Nigeria Union of Journalists, (NUJ), Nigerian Guild of Editors, members of NPAN and many others from across the country.
