Alhaji Lai Mohammed says the Town Hall Meeting series being organised by his ministry is not a campaign strategy for 2023 elections as being insinuated in certain quarters.
The Minister of Information and Culture, said this on Tuesday in Abuja at the 21st edition of the town hall meeting focusing on the achievements of the Federal Government in Infrastructure Development.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event featured presentations by Ministers of Finance, Budget and National Planning Hajia Zainab Ahmed, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and Minister of State for Power, Jeddy Agba.
Responding to a question on whether the town hall meeting was because the 2023 elections were approaching and a strategy to campaign for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the minister said the motive behind it was different.
“This is the 21st Town Hall Meeting under the present administration since 2016 when we kick-started the first one in Lagos.
“Nobody should accuse us that it is only now that the election is approaching that we are holding the programme.
“The whole idea of the town hall meeting is to afford people the platform to hear the scorecards of the administration and at the same time exchange ideas.
“It is also a platform to showcase what the administration has done because more often than not what we hear is the negative aspect of governance,
“That is why I am so glad with the approach of the ministers in their presentations by giving testimonies of citizens who have been impacted by the provisions of several infrastructure projects from power, bridges, roads,’’ he said.
Mohammed said he was equally happy with the presentation by the Minister of Finance who linked what the government was doing with the money generated internally or borrowed.
The minister said they had slated six Town Hall Meetings for the year to showcase the achievements of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, as it gradually winds up.
“Because of the massive infrastructure development of the administration, the first two in the series for 2022, including today’s, will be dedicated to infrastructure.
“The second edition on infrastructure will feature Ministers of Transportation, Aviation, Water Resources as well as Communications and Digital Economy.
“The third Town Hall Meeting will also be dedicated to infrastructure, but this time, infrastructure development in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),’’ he said.
He said the other town hall meetings scheduled for the year would focus on the administration’s strides in the area of the National Social Investment Programme, fight against corruption, insecurity, national unity and the economy. (NAN)