The Bayelsa State Government yesterday slammed the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Mrs Sadiya Farouq, over alleged bogus claim that the state is not one of the 10 most impacted states by the 2022 floods. The Commissioner for Information, Orientation and Strategy, Mr Ayibaina Duba, speaking on behalf of the state government, said the minister’s claim was disheartening but not surprising.
In a statement issued in Yenagoa, Duba noted that the slow response to the humanitarian crisis arising from the flood despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive for her to assist the state was indeed a confirmation of the state government’s belief that the Federal Ministry and its agencies had abandoned their responsibility and were not interested in managing the disaster.
Similarly, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) says Mrs. Farouq is unfit for office and should resign her position immediately.
“The development comes after the minister said Jigawa is the state worst hit by flooding.
PANDEF, in a statement on Friday by Ken Robinson, national publicity secretary of the forum, said the parameters used by the minister to arrive at her conclusions in the ranking are “morbid and ridiculous,” PANDEF said in a statement.
“Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, has berated the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, for her recent cynical comments on the 2022 flood situation in the country.”
“The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs was ignorant enough to announce, during the recent weekly Ministerial Briefing on Thursday, that Jigawa State is ranked as the most affected State in the country and that Bayelsa State is not even among the ten (10) worst affected states.
“This is a brazen assault on the sensibilities of Nigerians and an attack on logic. It is indeed provocative.
“The parameters adduced by the Minister in arriving at her reckless conclusions are morbid and ridiculous; it is this kind of ‘upside-down’ thinking that has pummelled Nigeria to its present dire state.
PANDEF notes that the Minister had earlier claimed that only four Local Government Areas of Bayelsa state were impacted by the unprecedented flood.
“The crass irrationality displayed by Sadiya Umar Farouq makes her unfit for the office of Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. She should, therefore, resign immediately or be sacked.