The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Press Council (NPC), Dr. Dili Ezughah has said that with the return of the council to the budget, the agency is now set to actualise its vision and mission.
During a media interactive session in Abuja, Ezughah, who was full of gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for approving the return of the council to budget, said: “The council can now begin to work; can now begin to perform; can now begin to actualize the ideas, actualize the plans we have on ground, to meet the expectations of the president, to meet the expectations of the Honourable Minister ( of Information and National Orientation); to carry out the functions for which the council was set up in the first place”.
He said the council had not done much in the course of the year as it was yet to receive a dime as overhead or capital allocation since the beginning of the year, while the staff had not been paid salary since January.
Ezughah, however, said that the council had not stayed dormant all this while. “We kept working, kept putting things in place, waiting for this time. We never lost faith because we knew who the president is; we knew who the minister is. Yes, there was no fund to execute. But we have plans and we have been waiting. When funds start coming in, we will run with them”, he posited.
He said that, although the council was yet to receive the budget allocation for this year, he was optimistic that the presidential directive for the restoration of the agency to the budget would be perfected before the end of the year.
Ezughah identified some priority projects the council would embark on when funds became available. “All this while, we have been working on expanding the scope of our operations. We have been working on expanding what we met on ground as we thought that it could not carry us through to do what we want to do; and also to meet government expectation to bring in much more revenue than we have been doing”, he said.
The Executive Secretary said that the agency would create more departments, especially marketing which would spearhead its revenue drive; expand its internet capability; and establish its presence in all the 36 states of the federation.
He showered praises on President Tinubu, whom he described as a leader with listening ears, noting that but for the president’s courage in correcting mistakes, the council would not have been returned to the budget.
He equally commended the efforts of the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, who, he said, personally presented the white paper on the Steve Oransanye Committee Report to the President, pointing out the error in removing the Nigerian Press Council from budget.
According to him, the white paper states clearly that the council is a regulatory body and would continue to be supported by government.
He also acknowledged the assistance of the National Assembly committees on information, remarking that NPC enjoyed the listening ears of all those it spoke with on the plight of the agency.
He said the president equally approved the return of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria to budget.
