…N112bn expended in 11yrs-Agency’s DG
By Gift Chapi-Odekina
It was an uproar yesterday at the investigative public hearing of the House of Representatives committee on ecology investigating the total consolidated accruals and utilization of ecological funds as some southern lawmakers accused the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ahmed Mustapha of excluding their respective States from benefiting from the relief materials distributions to victims of flooding and other natural disasters.
During the hearing, the DG told the committee that about 1,427,370 displaced persons in all the states of the federation and the FCT had been reached by the agency in terms of distribution of the relief both in food and non food items to cushion the effects of the disasters on them.
In his response to the DG, a member of the committee, Hon. Oghuma Johnson (APC, Edo) expressed dissatisfaction with the submission of the NEMA boss.
Johnson said that no victim had been reached in his state to his knowledge.
Johnson said, “In the whole of my area, we do not have any assembly members and you said you informed assembly members from my state and I am here. It is my own federal constituency that is swallowed up by the flood. I moved a motion concerning my federal constituency and that is the only way they communicate to you. I do not have any personal relationship with you. I don’t have to ask you for anything because I do not need anything from you.
“For my people, they are part of Nigeria and I want to put it to you that you people were not appointed to be partial. You swore an oath before you took your office. The way you treat some of us from this area, is that the same way you are treating other people? I am bitter because of the way you have abandoned these people. My state is never recognized. You have never done anything in Edo State and you call yourself NEMA. Is NEMA not Nigeria? Is it a regional organization?”
The lawmaker raised his voice in anger to the extent that the chairman of the committee, Hon. Ibrahim Isiaka (Ogun, APC) had to shout “Hon. Ogumah, that’s Ok”, hitting the gavel to regain the attention of Johnson and maintain decorum in the hall that suddenly became rowdy.
Corroborating Johnson’s statement when normalcy returned, Isiaka said, “Everything starts and ends at your table. Nobody is asking for any special favour. But what you are doing if they (lawmakers) are carried along, the pressure on them will lessen. And I am telling that here as we are seated here, there are three members from Ogun State here, including I as the Chairman of this committee.”
But in his response to Johnson’s remarks, the DG said that members of the house of assembly were involved in the distribution.
He said “The items just have to be distributed. We now involved every member of the house of assembly from the State. But we realized the list was too long.
Yet, again, Ogumah protested and later exited the hall.
But the DG continued.
“Hon, sir, this allocation by Mr. President is to vulnerable Nigerians to reduce their sufferings and that was how the items were shared for the 36 states of the federation and because the list was becoming too large, we wrote to the ministers (commissioners) in the States and the Senators to represent the house of assembly because there are 3 from the States”, he said.
Similarly, another member of the committee from Ogun State, Hon. Adewunmi Onanuga (APC) did that NEMA activities were opaque in the South.
“Mr. I am a member of the committee directly overseeing NEMA. I do not have relationship with that agency. I have written like twice to the agency with regards to the issues in my state and my federal constituency. Not once has anyone called me. I do no know whether you deal only with the state actors. It is highly unfair. When we came for oversight in Lagos, I think my state is under that jurisdiction, not once did we get any information with regards to what NEMA is doing in the whole of that area. I don’t have any issues with the DG but I have issues with the agency as a whole and I know I speak for a lot of members who are representatives of Nigerians. These are issues I think need to be dealt with”, she said.
Giving details of consolidated accruals and ecological fund utilization from 2011 – 2022, the NEMA DG explained that the sum of N112, 137, 641, 074.17 billion was spent in disaster management activities nationwide.
He however said that 2010 expenditures could not be rendered as the documents were vandalized during the ENDSARS protests, stressing that police extract to that effect has been obtained.
He also submitted that 2022 flood disaster was the worst in history.
He said “As predicted, the 2022 flood hit the country with devastating consequences, impacted thousands of communities and wreaked havoc in all the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT. A total of 612 persons lost their lives, 3,219,780 persons were affected, 1,427,370 persons were displaced and 2,776 others suffered various degrees of injuries. A total of 181,600 houses were partially damaged and 123,807 houses were totally damaged. A total of 176,852 hectares of farmland were partially destroyed while 392,300 hectares of farmland got totally destroyed as a result of the floods.
“In line with committee’s request number 3 of the letters aforementioned, fine copies of audited accounts and financial statements for the year 2010 to 2020 audited by Messrs Razak Kadiri and Co, Chartered Accountants and Tijani Isa and Co, Chartered Accountants. The 2021 audited accounts report is still being finalized by Tijani Musa Isa and Co and would be made available as soon as it is concluded.”
In his remarks, earlier, Isiaka decried the conspicuous absence of Ministries Departments and Agencies of federal government and Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) at the hearing to speak on their expenditures.
The chairman was particular about Ministries of Health and Niger Delta Affairs which he said have benefited more.
“Apart from the yearly appropriation which you are entitled to, the National Assembly still stepped up the ante by creating you; or those that had been created before, you have an amendment to the law that created you, and we now create a space in there says ‘take money from the Ecological Fund to support you.’ Why we became a bit worried is because the same father that created some of these agencies – that is the National Assembly, through legislation and law – has now said ‘let us talk and review what we are doing,’ going forward, for us to know where you have challenges.
“Unfortunately, many of the agencies became evasive. The situation we are right now, we are not expecting and hoping that such will repeat itself in 2023. You can see the people that we are fasting because of? They are eating lunch. That is ALGON. Last week they refused to come and today they refused to show up as well. We are 774 local governments in the country and by the present provision, the entire local governments the 774 of them are taking 0.62 per cent from the Consolidated Revenue Account as their ecological fund.
“But now, for two times running we have invited them to come and share with us. It is so sad and unfortunate that this is the third time we would ask them to come and they did not. Why is ALGON not here? We are not shedding any light on them; this is the National Assembly and they have their legislative houses. They have their councillors that can ask them how they spent their monies. Even the states, they have the Houses of Assembly to ask them how they are spending their monies. It is not us but we have a common cord binding all of us together; that is the cord we now want to continue to strengthen for the good citizens of Nigeria. The choice is ours”, he said.
