The Presidency has stated that President Bola Tinubu ordered the recent directive for periodic press briefings by cabinet members due to failure of some Ministers to render their accounts......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
Naija News reports that the Federal Government announced that ministers would begin to hold regular press briefings next week to update Nigerians on government policies and activities.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this in Abuja, stating that President Tinubu had mandated all ministers to engage with the public regularly to promote transparency and accountability.
Speaking on the matter during an interview with Punch, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the president, Bayo Onanuga, explained that the directive simply reinforced the President’s long-standing demand for accountability.
He said, “The President has always insisted that ministers should render accounts. People want to know what they have been doing, but not all of them have been doing so.
“By asking them now to come forward and speak, the Information minister is merely implementing what the President has consistently emphasised—that the public deserves to know what each minister is doing. This has nothing to do with a reassessment or a cabinet reshuffle.
“It is simply about ensuring that all ministers provide periodic updates on their activities.”
A source close to the President, who requested anonymity, also corroborated Onanuga’s stance.
“I don’t believe it’s about assessment. This is nothing new. They have been doing it before, and this is just a reiteration. What I can tell you is that it cannot serve as a basis for assessment because the evaluation parameters are entirely different,” the source stated.