By: Sunny Anderson Osiebe.
Senate
President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has inaugurated the Senate Ad-hoc
Committee to investigate the use of the fund that has been allocated to
the Humanitarian Crisis in the North East and
promised that all the facts of the case will be exposed.
Speaking at the
event, Saraki stated that the committee led by Senator Shehu Sani is
being assigned a task to act on behalf of the 4.5 million families in
the North East zone of the country who are
in dire need of assistance; the 1 million people in the region who are
in danger of extreme malnutrition; and the over 2 million Nigerians who
are beyond the reach of aid.
Saraki urged the
members of the Ad-hoc Committee to ensure that there would be no
cover-ups in the investigation. “The whole world is watching,” he said,
“We must ensure that there are no cover-ups
as this is the first committee of its kind that has been inaugurated to
embark on this task.”
“The work that
this committee will be doing will impact the lives of the 4.5million
families in the North East who are in dire need of relief,
rehabilitation and other forms of assistance,” he continued,
“The recommendations that you will submit from the investigation will
help us ascertain how much has been spent in our response to this
crisis, and will also help us improve our coordination efforts so that
the international community will have confidence
in us.”
The Senate
President, who has consistently pressed for better coordination and
oversight in the nation's response to the humanitarian situation in the
North East, also charged the committee to ensure
that it delivered on its mandate.
In his comments,
Sani acknowledged that with international partners scaling up their
donations to the North East, it was important to determine how funds
allocated to the region were being spent.
Sani remarked
that government agencies that have been given the responsibility to
provide assistance to the people of the North East have engaged in the
exploitation of the vulnerable people of the
region.
“It is alleged
that billions of Naira and countless trucks of grains meant for the IDPs
have been misappropriated and diverted,” Sani said, “This has been
happening while according to UNICEF, an estimated
400,000 children under the age of 5 will suffer from severe acute
malnutrition and more than 4 million people are facing food shortages.”
“It is very
alarming that the UNHCR has put Nigeria at Level 3, being the highest
level of humanitarian emergency in the world. At a time when our gallant
troops are winning the war on terror, some
people are choosing to engage in corrupt practices and self-enrichment.
This is sabotage bordering on treason. This is blood money”, he said.
Another member
of the Ad-hoc Committee, Senator Ben Murray Bruce, reassured the
Nigerian people that the committee would maintain the highest standards
while undertaking its assignment.
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