The House of Representatives has queried the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) over what it described as poor management of funds for vulnerable Nigerians across the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in the country.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness, Joseph Bassey, frowned on the shortage of distribution of food and non-food materials to vulnerable Nigerians across the IDP camps.
Bassey, who spoke with journalists after a thorough investigation of activities in camps, said that the funds that had been released so far by the Federal Government to rehabilitate the displaced Nigerians were underutilised by NEMA.
According to him, the agency had only resorted to distributing garri, noodles, and rice without properly providing means of livelihood and long-term benefits for the vulnerable ones.
He expressed disapproval that with the “hundreds of billions” of naira released to NEMA so far, there was no plan for skill acquisition for vulnerable Nigerians.
The lawmaker cited the revelation of the Vice President, Sen. Kashim Shettima, that President Bola Tinubu approved N50 billion intervention to NEMA to kick-start the Pulaku Initiative, a non-kinetic solution to the crisis confronting the people of the North-West.
“As a lawmaker, we must be proactive and sensitive to the plights of our people. From what I have seen so far on the ground, NEMA has not done the right thing in the welfare of these displaced Nigerians,” he said.
“The funds that have been released to them in hundreds of billions have been mismanaged and the DG must be held to account for it.
“From what we have seen on the ground, it was only garri, Indomie and rice that have been distributed to the vulnerable Nigerians. Is there no room for equipping them with skills to make them self-reliant?
“Now that serious flooding has been predicted to happen in the coming days, is it only garri and rice that would be available to those who will be affected? Is that what is going to sustain them?”
Credit: Channels Television
