The National
Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has insisted that the House of Representatives
lied in the report of its committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness,
which indicted the agency of violation of public trust in the disbursement of
over N33bn emergency intervention fund.
The Agency
stated this in a press statement on Saturday by its spokesman, Sani Datti, in
Abuja.
Recall that
the Green Chamber had called for the dismissal and prosecution of the NEMA
boss, Engr Mustapha Maihaja and his cohorts over allegations of fraud,
corruption and embezzlement of the N33 billion Emergency Intervention Fund
under review.
NEMA, in a
bid to set the records straight, released details of issues raised by the
lawmakers’ committee report.
It
maintained its position that the findings and conclusions of the Rep. Isa Ali-
led Committee did not reflect the facts and documents placed before it by the
agency.
The
statement reads: “The House of Representatives, at its plenary on 8thNovember
2018, received the Report of the House Committee on Emergency and Disaster
Preparedness on the alleged violation of public trust against the National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
“The Agency
was astonished to hear some of the findings and conclusions presented by the
Committee on the issues, which did not reflect the facts and documents placed
before it by NEMA. While the Agency will in due course make a more
comprehensive response to all the allegation made, it is therefore most
important to make the following clarification:
“Port
Clearance and Transportation of Emergency Food Assistance by Chinese
Government; the Federal Government received a total of 6,779MT of Rice for
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East as donation by the
Chinese Government. This amounted to 271 containers, which arrived Apapa Ports
between June and October 2017.
“The correct
total value of the rice is N2.25 Billion (50.5 Million Chinese Yuan) and the
amount spent on demurrage and storage was about N450 Million, not N800 Million
as alleged by the Committee. The processes of obtaining duty exemption, waivers
and other related issues took several months, but the total quantity was
subsequently cleared from the Apapa Port, transported and delivered to NEMA
warehouses in the North East. It was thereafter distributed to the IDPs, though
some quantities are still available in Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba
and Yobe States. Relevant documents on the transaction were made available to
the Committee during the public hearing.
“The
suspension of six (6) NEMA officers: This was a decision of the Governing
Council of NEMA based on an Interim Report by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), which indicted them for financial misappropriation. This
suspension was in line with extant Guidelines on Appointment, Promotion and
Discipline as contained in the Public Service Rules.
“The
approval of the sum of N1.6 billion granted by the Federal Government for the
Procurement and Delivery of Relief Items to 16 States affected by Flood in
2017, due process was followed in the procurement of the relief items and all
items meant for the 16 states were received and acknowledged by respective
State Governments. Relevant documents were made available to the House
Committee.
“The Federal
Government Emergency Food Intervention in the North East(EFINE), EFINE was a
project implemented by a Presidential Committee comprising of relevant
Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government (MDAs) in response to the
threat of hunger and starvation in the North East as reported by the agencies
of Government on the ground, which was corroborated by the United Nations World
Food Programme in April 2017.
“All
approvals were sought in accordance with due process, while the Committee and
the UN World Food Programme worked collaboratively in the sourcing and
distribution of the food items.
“The
originating memorandum on the project was submitted by NEMA on 2 June 2017 for
Presidential approval. The National Security (Food) was threatened, emergency
response became inevitable and therefore all suppliers in EFINE were
appropriately selected. Copies of relevant documents in respect of the project
were made available to the House Committee.
“The
evacuation of Nigerians from Libya: The evacuation of stranded Nigerians from
Libya was a multi-agency operation, which was undertaken jointly with all
relevant stakeholders: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Interior,
Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Air Force, National
Intelligence Agency, Department of State Security, NAPTIP, National Commission
for Refugees, relevant State Governments, etc. Two Thousand, One Hundred and
Thirty (2,130) Nigerians were evacuated in the operation. The operation was
highly successful with prudent fund management after which money was returned
to the coffers of Government.
“The over
N10 billion ecological fund: Submission was made to the committee with
expenditure of N3.799 billion from January, 2017 to February, 2018. The sum of
N1.96 billion was spent between January- April, 2017 (about 4 months) before
the assumption of the present Director General, whereas the sum of 1.83 billion
was expended between April, 2017 and February, 2018 (10 months) by the present
management. The balance of N6.52 billion was in the Agency’s TSA Account with
the CBN was adequately communicated to the committee in our submission.”
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