Category: Nigeria

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has distributed relief items to flood victims in 13 local government areas of Katsina State as part of the federal government’s efforts aimed at assuaging the suffering of those affected by the natural disaster in the country.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, handed over the items to the Katsina State Government Thursday evening at the State Emergency Management Agency’s warehouse in Katsina.
She said the relief materials were 9,000 bags of rice, maize and beans, 1,000 bags of cement, 300 bundles of roofing sheets, 100 20litres of vegetable oil, 200 seasoning cubes, 300 bags of salt, 100 packets of zinc nails and 100kg bags of nails.

Others, she said, were 500 pieces of mattresses,1,000 pieces of blankets, 5,000 pieces of nylon mats, 2,000 pieces of mosquito treated nets, 4,000 pieces of guinea brocade, 500 pieces of wax prints and 1,000 pieces of children’s clothing.

She added that: “These items are being supplied by the National Emergency Management Agency and are for the affected victims of flood in 13 local government areas in Katsina State. We are handing over these items to you for onward delivery to the affected victims.”
The Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Tasiu Musa Maigari, who received the items on behalf of the government, assured that the relief materials would be distributed only to the flood victims in the affected local governments.

He applauded the federal government for providing the relief materials to the victims, adding that the humanitarian gesture would go a long way in alleviating their suffering orchestrated by the flood in their respective communities.

Speaking in an interview, the Director-General of NEMA, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, urged the state government to inaugurate local emergency management committees in order to tackle disaster at the grassroots level.

He further admonished residents of the state to desist from building on water channels, blockage of drainages and move from flood-proven communities to safer areas.

The managing director of Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), Abubakar Yilwa, Thursday admonished youth in Plateau state to make good use of its youth transformation programme commission, geared at poverty eradication.

He said at the opening of HYPPADEC, 3-day skills training in Jos, under its Directorate of Community and Rural Development, deemed it wise to embark on Youth Transformation Programme (YTP), aimed at poverty eradication.

Represented by Mr. Pam Davo, the managing director said, “all hands must be on deck to ensure the success of the programme, aimed at poverty eradication amongst youth.”

The representative of the Directorate of Community and Rural Development, Abduljalal Muhammad, said the aim of the programme was part of efforts at bringing to its barest minimum the menace of insecurity, banditry, insurgency and kidnappings.

Also the Plateau state coordinator of NDE, Abdulazez Ardo, said the HYPPADEC was determined to transform the youth to better livelihood.

He said the NDE will give its best in supporting HYPPADEC to attain the desired result.

The HYPPADEC state coordinator, Salisu Tanko, said youth will continue to get the commission’s attention for better development.

“It is meant not only to empower the youth but to transform them to becoming employers of labour,” Tanko said.

More than 300 youth are being trained in different entrepreneurial skills.

The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has identified gaps in Nigeria’s security architecture and urged citizens to begin actively demanding accountability from those in charge of security.

The organisation, which stated at a media workshop in Adamawa State’s capital on Thursday that previously unimaginable crimes and anti-social acts have become the norm, blamed it on flaws in the country’s handling of security matters.Executive Director of the organisation, Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani), in an address at the ‘Media Workshop on Defence Anti-Corruption Reportage, Civil Space and Oversight’ which was held in Yola, spoke of wrong and prolonged deployment of personnel in battle field, lack of transparency and accountability in fund management, procurement and project implementation, personnel recruitment process, personnel welfare, sub standard kits and equipment, as among the gaps harming the fight against insurgency, banditry, kidnapping, among other vices.
Challenging Nigerians in their various callings to play their part in concerted efforts against insecurity, the CISLAC executive director said, “We must not sit and watch a corrupt few embezzle money meant for the welfare of security personnel, procurement of arms and ammunition.

“Many people known and unknown to us have been killed, maimed, kidnapped, robbed of their loved ones, properties and sources of livelihood. Terrorist attacks and kidnappings for outrageous ransom has become a norm in Nigeria. The question is: who will be the next victim?

“We must begin to question the actions and inactions of the government and to demand accountability for budgetary allocations meant for defence and security. It is time that the quest for reform in our defence and security institutions transcends from mere words to an all-inclusive participation in the formulation and effective implementation of policies.”

The media workshop in Yola which attracted reporters mostly from Adamawa and some other North East states, was designed to enhance the knowledge of journalists on probable areas within the defence and security sector budgetary process and expenditures, for effective investigative journalism.

Between 2011 and 2019, at least N11.9 billion in public funds were allegedly stolen from Kwara State’s treasury.

According to a forensic audit report, funds allegedly taken by the previous administration had no legal connection to any project or programme.

The audit also revealed that N2 billion in cash withdrawals unrelated to any project or official expenditure were made in just eight days in February 2019, less than a month before the last general election.

Speaking during the submission of the forensic audit report to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Thursday, Partner at the SSAC and Professionals, Anthony Iniomoh, said the report was in two volumes covering Internally Generated Revenue; Capital Receipts; Internal and External Loans; Recurrent / Overhead Expenditure; Personnel Cost (Salaries and Wages); Capital Expenditure; Assets Disposed; Kwara State Internal Revenue Service; Infrastructural Fund Kwara (IFK); Harmony Holdings Limited; amongst others.
“A few highlights of our findings may be necessary for the record. Our forensic audit revealed a colossal pilfering of N11, 981,268,709 which we recommended should be recovered to the public coffers. Similarly, we recommended to the state government to prosecute certain officers and companies in addition to claiming exemplary damages on transactions totalling N6,023,358,444, amongst other key findings,” Inumoh said at the presentation of the report.
“This is especially so in the cases of firms that we observed were paid huge public funds without any evidence of work done on record. In one instance, records show that a firm that was incorporated at the Corporate Affairs Commission on 14th June, 2016 was paid by the state government for a contract it purportedly executed for the state in April of the same year. It became apparent that this was a preconceived attempt to defraud the state.
“There was an instance of public officer getting paid at two different places for years, which is a clear breach of the law. Other infractions arising as a result of obvious conflict of interest and violation of due process were also spotlighted for the government to draw up new policy instruments to prevent such in the future.

“There was also a cash withdrawal within 8 days of N2.06 billion in February 2019 which was of interest to the audit. However, no documentation was made available to validate the purpose for which the money was withdrawn. There were also several other cash withdrawals within the state over the period running into billions of Naira which we could not validate.

“These and others have been recommended to be referred to an Administrative Panel of Enquiry. Furthermore, the audit revealed that loans were obtained by the Kwara State Government within the period under review.

“The elements of these loans could not be validated. Above all, the bank accounts to which these loans were disbursed to and what the loans were used for could not be established or validated,” he said.

The report suggested to the State government to prosecute some individuals and firms indicted in the two-volume report, while other issues were to be referred to administrative panel of inquiry for some individuals to explain their roles in the many infractions.

Governor AbdulRazaq, for his part, said the revelations were truly disturbing but hardly surprising, given the patterns of events in those years.