…rejects call for her resignation 

By Francis Ekeh, Abuja 

The Presidency has waded into the row trailing the flood situation in Bayelsa State and the reaction of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, on the situation. 

Umar Farouq, during the weekly Ministerial Briefing, hosted at the Presidential Villa by the Presidential Communication Team, last Thursday, while reacting to some comments earlier made by Chief Edwin Clark and Governor Douye Diri, during different media engagements, clarified that Bayelsa was not among the ten most hit States by floods.

The Minister’s clarifications had been followed by more negative reactions, most of which described her as insensitive and some called for her resignation over her comment.

However, reacting to the development on Wednesday, the Presidency, in a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, expressed sadness over the flooding, which claimed lives and property worth trillions in Bayelsa and other parts of the country.

The Presidency, which expressed particular over the situation in Bayelsa, however, observed that calls for the Minister’s resignation over her comment were inappropriate in the current circumstance, noting that efforts focused on salvaging the current disaster across the country had been overwhelming for the agencies tasked with delivering relief to the affected.   

“The scenes of flooding from Bayelsa state are deeply saddening. The Presidency’s thoughts are with victims of, and those affected by, the floods.

“However, calls from some quarters for the resignation of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development are not appropriate in this climate.

“Almost every state in Nigeria has been affected.

“The federal government is concerned about what has happened in Bayelsa as it is with respect to the other states. No life lost is bigger or lesser than that of the others.

“The challenge of bringing succour to a large number of the displaced people in Bayelsa and other states, the restoration of their damaged property and farmlands washed away have clearly overwhelmed disaster management efforts so far, but that is not to say no efforts are being made,” the statement reads.

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