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News

Lai Mohammed Gets International Lobbying Job

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the immediate past Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, has been appointed as the managing partner of an international lobbying firm, Ballard Partners.

His appointment was announced in a statement shared on the firm’s official Twitter page on Tuesday.

“Ballard Partners, one of the top government relations firms in the United States, is opening its first office in Africa in Abuja, Nigeria, the nation’s capital,” the statement reads.

“Lai Mohammed, the immediate past Nigeria minister of information and culture, will serve as the managing partner of the Abuja office and the firm’s satellite office in Lagos, the nation’s financial centre.”

According to the firm’s president, Brian Ballard, Mohammed was given the role because he “is one of the most respected officials in the country”.

“Opening our first African office in Nigeria expands our firm’s international footprint to three continents and builds upon the important work we have done on behalf of African nations and companies in Africa and the U.S.,” the firm’s president said.

“We are honoured to have former minister Lai Mohammed join the firm as our managing partner in Nigeria. He has a long record of public service and is one of the most respected officials in the country. His outstanding reputation and exceptional experience will be invaluable to our firm’s clients.”

Reacting to his new appointment, Mohammed said Ballard Partners has a perfect record globally and is delighted to be a part of the firm.

“I am very pleased to join Ballard Partners and to open the firm’s first office in Africa,” he was quoted as saying.

“Ballard Partners has an impeccable reputation internationally and is well known for its success representing African countries and American firms in Africa.”

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2023 Elections

2023 Elections The Most Transparent And Credible In Nigeria – Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated that the 2023 general elections are the most transparent and credible in the country’s history

The minister said this on Saturday, March 18 in his home town, Oro, near Ilorin Kwara while speaking with newsmen after casting his vote in the Governorship and State Assemblies elections.

Mohammed said the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, helped tackle the issues of multiple accreditations, voting and rigging.

“With what I have observed both in the February 25 and today’s elections, there has been a remarkable improvement in the performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

This is to me probably one of the most transparent and credible elections in Nigeria. That is why I get worried about the red-erring by some people I can call sad losers in the aftermath of the presidential and National Assembly elections.

“I am glad to say that some of the aggrieved parties have gone to court. That is the best thing in any election in the world. Let the court interpret what the law says.”

“Without any doubt, the introduction of BVAS has been a game changer in the sense that with BVAS, you are able to get the actual number of people who are accredited.

“Also with BVAS, it is now not possible for you to vote twice because your biometric and facial are captured.

“That explained why though INEC said there were 84 million voters in Nigeria, the last election showed that only about 24 million people cast their votes,’’ he said.

He said most of the issues being raised about the credibility of INEC in conducting the polls were to distract people.

“What we noticed is that some media houses had taken position for one candidate and this makes rubbish of most of the analysis we see on their platforms,’’ he said.

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News

Nigeria Better Than We Met It In 2015 – Lai Mohammed

Nigeria has made tremendous progress and better than 2015 when the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was in power, the federal government has claimed.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed made the claim on Monday when he featured on Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) live programme, “Good Morning Nigeria”
Speaking on the programme monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the minister said the Buhari’ government had met the expectations of Nigerians and true to its mandate giving the time frame and circumstances.
The minister said the attempts to de-market the government and in the process the country were the handwork of die-hard naysayers and very vocal minority.
Speaking on the administration’s achievements, the minister said in 2015, the entire North East region was inaccessible and 20 of the 27 Local Government Areas in Borno were under the occupation and control of Boko Haram insurgents.
He said presently no portion or part of Nigeria territory was under the occupation and control of insurgents.
Mohammed recalled that in 2015, Nigeria was number one importer of rice from Thailand but with the administration’s policies and programmes on agriculture, the country is self-sufficient in the staple and food in general.
He said millions of farmers had been empowered with the Anchor Borrowers Programme while the number of rice mills in the country had been increased from two in 2015 to 60 presently
Under the administration’s social intervention programmes, the minister said 10 million pupils were being fed daily while two million households were benefitting from Conditional Cash Transfer among others.
Mohammed said the administration had constructed 17,000 kms of new roads and rehabilitated 8,000 kms across the country
 
“We completed the Lagos-Ibadan expressway as well as the second Niger bridge, which was a mirage for more than three decades.
 
“Also for more than three decades, Nigerians did not know what it means to travel by train until the Buhari’ government came to power.
 
In spite all the sabotage, today we have working, the Lagos-Ibadan railway, Abuja-Kaduna railway and Ajaokuta- Warri railway which were not in existence before we came,’’ he said.
The minister said the Buhari’ government would continue to build a progressive and prosperous nation and would not be cowed or intimidated by the naysayers.
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Social Commentary & World Business

Social media is the most unseen enemy – Lai Mohammed

Lai Mohammed explained while talking to House of representative committee on information that people dont read newspapers or watch television anymore but have choose social media which is an unseen enemy.

lai mohammed
lai mohammed

The minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed has said that they wont stop trying to regulate social media importantly because of how news is easily disseminated which aids the spread of fake news.

”The people today, they don’t read newspapers, they don’t watch television — it’s social media. And it is most expensive; the most unseen enemy, they are there every moment,With fake news today and misinformation — I have always said here at the next world war will be caused by fake news. You can see even the US that use to pride itself on the freedom of the press is now questioning the role of the social media.”