The Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Internally Displaced clashed over alleged harassment of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouk, while she was being questioned on the distribution of COVID-19 palliatives on Tuesday.
A member of the committee representing Katsina under the APC, Fatuhu Mohammed, accused his fellow committee members of unnecessarily “harassing” the Minister over the manner of palliatives distribution upon President Buhari’s order when it was obvious that the minister had discharged her duties as expected.
Angry Mohammed said, “This minister has done very well. This is not the right way to treat her. We all saw what happened during the #EndSARS protest; how they looted palliatives from various warehouses across the country. Why the harassment? I can’t allow this to happen to her.”
The members of the committee, however, chorused, “No! Nobody is harassing her here. We are only doing our job. You have to withdraw your words; withdraw your words…”
But the Katsina lawmaker, walked out of the venue angrily after refusing to withdraw the statement, while Minister Farouk looked on.
Chairman of the committee, Mohammed Jega (APC) representing Kebbi, stated that the lawmakers had the responsibility to know the details of how the 2020 budget was implemented.
The chairman, however, declined a motion moved by another member, Mr Awaji-Inombek Abiante (PDP) representing Rivers, for the committee to suspend consideration of the ministry’s 2021 budget proposal pending when details of the 2020 budgetary expenditure would be made available.
In Minister Farouk’s presentation, she stated that about N321.4m (58.29 per cent) of total allocation to COVID-19 intervention was utilised.
Farouk also stated that the palliatives were shared to the states, with the expectation that the items would be benefitted by the poor and vulnerable, the target beneficiaries.
The minister clearly noted that apart from the budgeted sum, the food and non-food items received from the Nigeria Customs Service during the lockdown were also distributed to targeted beneficiaries across a wide range of vulnerable groups, including Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.
She, however, insisted that all 36 state governors, including the FCT Minister, received COVID-19 palliatives except Rivers State that rejected its own share, but could still access it.
