Bayelsa not in calamity race with flood-affected states – Nabena tells humanitarian minister

A former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Yekini Nabena, has faulted the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Farouq, over a statement credited to her that Bayelsa State was not among the 10 states most affected by floods.

The minister, while speaking on Thursday at the ministerial media briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, claimed that “Bayelsa is not among the ten most worst hit states, Jigawa is.”

Reacting to the minister’s statement while addressing journalists Friday in Abuja, Nabena noted that Bayelsa was not in calamity competition with other states ravaged by flood.

He warned the minister not to bring religion and tribe into the current flood disaster.

The APC chieftain said the federal government should be interested in quickly preventing the phenomenon’s reoccurrence, adding that the flooding is preventable.

Nabena stated: “See official jealousy! The woman is worried that Bayelsa is receiving all the attention. She would have preferred Jigawa State which she has awarded the first position.

“Madam minister should not worry herself because Bayelsa State will not be interested in this kind of competition as to who would come first in a calamity.

“The minister should be more concerned about how the federal government will prevent the reoccurrence of the phenomenon. It is preventable and mitigatable, since the flood has a known cycle,” Nabena said.

Nabena further challenged the minister to tell the world if she had ever visited the Niger Delta since the current disaster happened.

According to him, “One will wonder if, as a minister for humanitarian affairs, you ever visited the Niger Delta region to know the level of this disaster they have been facing after drilling the oil and the cost of spillages everywhere in the region.”