The National Orientation Agency (NOA), on Tuesday decried the low budgetary allocation to implement its various programme at federal, state and local government levels.
Mr Mike Omeri, Director General of the agency said this ?in Abuja during the oversight function of the House Committee on Information and National Orientation to NOA.
Omeri said that the agency had over the years suffered from financial neglect, which according to him had hampered most of the programme that should have been implemented by NOA.
He said that there was a renewed interest in the agency, adding that the President had directed that budget for NOA programme should be released in advance due to its advocacy nature.
The NOA boss said that before he assumed office, its various offices across the 774 local governments’ areas received N2, 500 to carry out sensitisation programmes on government policies monthly, but he?increased it to N10, 000.
He added that the states also received N150, 000, but was increased to N200, 000 when he discovered that the money was not enough to carry out its numerous enlightenment campaign programmes.
The DG said that there were a lot of leakages before he came on board as the agency operated manually.
He said that the agency had adopted computerisation method in dispensing cash, adding that the move had reduced corruption.
“We have been very sincere and truthful in our budget implementation,’’ he said.
Mr Umaru Jibril, the Chairman, House Committee on Information and National Orientation said that NOA performance on capital project fell short of expectation.
He said that capital budget implementation remained the concern of the national assembly.
Jubril said that good budget implementation was the only solution to fighting poverty, unemployment, hunger, among others.
Mr Abayomi Dauda, the deputy chairman said that the agency should always carry members of the national assembly along in its sensitisation programme.
He said that this would make NOA work more rewarding as the members of NASS knew the people and how to talk to them in the language they understood. (NAN)