The Bayelsa State government has heavily criticized the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq after her remarks that Bayelsa State was not one of the 10 most impacted states by the 2022 flood.
The Commissioner for Information, Orientation, and Strategy Mr. Ayiba Duba on Thursday, November 3, issued a statement saying the minister’s claim was disheartening but not shocking.
This was, according to Commissioner Mr. Duba, because of the slow response to the humanitarian crisis as a result of the flood despite President Buhari’s order for her to come to the state’s rescue. Duba said that the action only served to confirm that the federal ministry and its agencies have abandoned their responsibilities and are not interested in managing the disaster as the Minister had claimed that only four local government areas of the state had been impacted by the unprecedented flood.
“She was obviously relying on bogus data instead of the clear reality, that all the local government in the state was impacted by the flood in varying degrees.” Duba had said.
“Is it not curious that since the flood devastation happened a month ago, no representative from the Federal Government has visited our state to assess the situation?” The Commissioner had queried.