NEMA DG denies fraud in distribution of relief materials

Mustapha Maihaja, director-general of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has denied allegations that some states were sidelined in the distribution of relief materials.

Appearing before the house of representatives committee on emergency and disaster preparedness, on Tuesday, Maihaja said lawmakers were also involved in the distribution to internally displaced persons (IDPs).

The committee, led by Ali Isa, is investigating an alleged breach of public trust at the agency.

There are allegations that relief materials were not distributed to states in the north-east since the NEMA DG assumed office in 2017.

But speaking at a public hearing on the issue, the NEMA DG said contrary to the accusations, state governments and officials of state emergency management agency (SEMA) held series of meetings with the federal government concerning relief materials.

He said: “We were transparent; we ensured fairness in the distribution of relief materials. I have the list of the items, how the distribution was done and photographs to confirm the deliveries.

“The issue at stake was a presidential intervention. By the time I took over, I was invited on 26th May, 2017 to join the team.

“A sub-committee headed by minister of budget and national planning held meetings with Borno, Yobe and others where the issue and distribution was discussed. They were part of the programme. We moved to site together with them. There’s perfect collaboration with the states right from the onset.

“This is not an issue of telling lies, the problem here could be communication gap. We worked together and the materials got to the right place.”

Abdulraham Shaibu, a member of the committee, accused the DG of not involving lawmakers in the distribution.

He asked the DG: “Why were our members not involved in the distribution? In 2016, we were asked to nominate members for the distribution, we were involved and every ward in the three Local government in my constituency got the materials.”

But Maihaja said apart from SEMAs, some lawmakers participated in the distribution of the materials.

“Senator Bukar and Honourable Karasuwa participated in the distribution in Yobe state and other lawmakers in other states too. The problems might be communication gap”, he said.

Representatives of SEMA from Yobe, Bauchi, Taraba and Gombe insisted they were not aware of the distribution of relief materials to their states.