Members of the House of Representatives on Wednesday kicked against the call to remove N300 billion from the Federation Account to address the humanitarian crisis caused by the flood disaster in Maiduguri, Borno State.
The lawmakers expressed the objection during the debate on a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Hon. Amos Magaji who lamented the impact of the flooding, noting that houses, markets and many health facilities were affected.
In his lead debate on the impact of the flood on the Maiduguri University Teaching Hospital, Hon. Magaji noted that the tertiary health institution is no longer accessible for use by the public.
He said: “The renowned Cancer Centre in the facility, which is lauded as one of the largest in the country, was submerged in the flood, thereby damaging all high-end equipment in the centre, while wards at the lower level of the facilities were also severely flooded, including all medical records, administrative records, files, amongst many other things destroyed.
“That electricity power supply in the facility has devastatingly collapsed, largely due to precautions taken to avoid electrocution, as transformers and other power sources in the facility were also submerged in the flood.”
He argued that if no urgent intervention is made to address the devastation of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, the people of Borno State are at great risk of succumbing to any disease outbreak resulting from the flooding.
Contributing to the motion, Hon. Inuwa Garba proposed an amendment to the motion by urging Federal Government to give victims of the flood a special grant of N300 billion to cushion the effect of the humanitarian disaster.
“While individuals can continue to come up with their donations, the Federal Government should give the victims of the Maiduguri flood a special grant of about N300 billion,” Hon. Inuwa said.
When the amendment was put into voice vote by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas who presided over the plenary, rhe lawmakers voted against it and the House thereafter urged the Federal Government to provide support for the victims as much as it could.
On his part, Chairman, House Committee on Navy, Hon. Yusuf Gagdi, who described the tragedy as worrisome, applauded the support of well meaning Nigerians to alleviate the sufferings of the flood victims.
He said: “People have been displaced and businesses lost. The government and well-meaning individuals have done a lot but no matter the level of contribution, the gap left by this disaster cannot be fully addressed.”
In his contribution, Chairman, House Committee on National Security, Hon. Ahmed Satomi confirmed that the State “received a lot of support but the level of damage done is such that we need to tackle it headlong. We need a serious intervention.”
Also speaking, Hon. Chinedu Ogah proposed an amendment to ensure every critical infrastructure affected is also duly rehabilitated.
On his part, Hon. Ademorin Kuye commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his visit to Borno state and the Speaker of the House for sending such a powerful delegation to Borno state and for the donation given on behalf of the House of Representatives.
He proposed an amendment calling on the Federal Government to immediately take steps to renovate the Palace of the Shehu of Borno.
After the debate, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas referred to the House Committees on Health, Power, Renewable Energy, Insurance, Legislative Compliance as well as that on Actuarial Matters for further legislative action.
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