Budget performance: Zamfara govt accuses an online newspaper of peddling false news

The Zamfara State Government has accused Sahara Reporters of spreading misinformation about security spendings in the state. This followed the online newspaper’s publication of a story on Friday with the headline ‘Amid Insecurity, Zamfara Govt Spends N30Million On Internal Security, N3.6Billion On International Travels In 2024’.

A statement by the spokesperson of the Zamfara Governor, Sulaiman Bala Idris, described the report by Sahara Reporters as misinformation peddled to mislead the gullible.

Budget performance report quarter4, 2024

The statement noted that the story revealed Sahara Reporters’ shortcomings in two ways: lack of diligence in reviewing the budget document “or their usual style of yellow journalism.” The statement reads:

“Our attention has been drawn to a fake story reported by an online platform, Sahara Reporters, saying that the Zamfara State Government spent N30 million on internal security in 2024.

“The story does not only lack substance, but an intentional misinformation intended to mislead the public.

“Our budget performance is up to date on the official website of the Zamfara State Government, so the public can read and get the correct information instead of the misinformation cherry-picked by the online platform.

“The spending on security is in many folds. We have the Ministry of Internal Security and the Office of the Secretary of the State Government, which handles the security vote.

“The Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs with 012400000000 as economic code on the budget performance document.

“Page 31 of the same document highlighted that the Ministry of Internal Security has spent N1,011,695,854.50, achieving a 104% performance in 2024.

“Sahara Reporters’ laziness blocked the online platform from paying attention to page 41 under ‘other services general.’ We spent 1,267,716,000.00 on Security Services, which is 80% performance.

“On the same page 41, Security Votes were captured with a total spending of N12,519,494,459.00, which is a 72% performance.

“In 2024, the Zamfara State Government has spent N500 million to acquire security equipment for operations. This information is included in the same document shared by Sahara Reporters, which the platform opted to ignore.

“Furthermore, the total personnel expenditure of the internal security ministry is N207,947,374.

“It is both a serious concern and laughable to observe how Sahara Reporters has chosen to demean itself by referring to the N30 million allocated for administrative classification as the total expenditure of the Ministry of Internal Security. This is a disgrace and an affront to journalism – a noble profession that values factual reporting.

“Thanks to technological advancements, the internet allows you to verify information with much less stress. Of course, this has reduced the yellow journalism market that Sahara Reporters feeds on.

“The only reason we are responding to such sensational journalism is to set the record straight and protect the public from false news from a medium that claims to stand for and by the truth.

“In 2024, the Zamfara State Government has spent N14,352,373,550.10 for security, as detailed in the budget performance document available on our website.”