We Did Not Receive Materials From NEMA – Gaidam
BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State has informed the House of Representatives that the state did not receive any relief materials from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) since the current Director General of the agency, Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja took over.
Speaking at the continuation of the investigative hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Emergency Disaster Preparedness on Thursday, Governor Gaidam, who was represented by the State Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Ibrahim Lamin, said the only donations received by Yobe State came from private organisations even though the state is one of the worst hit by years of insurgency.
Lamin, who was accompanied by the commissioner of Justice and the permanent secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency further said that Yobe State has not received any correspondent or relief material from the NEMA since the assumption of the current director general.
The Director General, Engr. Mustapha Yunusa Maihaja, however, said that the relief items were moved and distributed but couldn’t say who the beneficiaries were or who took the delivery just as he could not provide documents to validate his claim.
Accordingly, the committee, directed the NEMA DG to furnish it with detailed information on who received the items, where and when during its next sitting on Tuesday next week.
In a related issue, after due consideration of submissions made by the representatives of Head of Service and the EFCC, the lawmakers have again directed the DG to lift the suspension of the six members of staff of NEMA, based on the fact that the suspended persons were not given fair hearing before action was taken against them, adding that it was a breach of their rights to be presumed innocent before proven guilty.
The committee also added that the provision of the Constitution is superior to any other subsidiary law, meaning that the Civil Service Rules is not the final authority when it comes to rights of Nigerians.
