FG Directs States To Submit Report On Flood-Prone Areas In One Week…

Owing to regular occurrenc­es of floods in some parts of the country, the Federal Gov­ernment has directed states yet to submit reports on their vulnerability status to do so within one week.

The directive was handed down to the affected states on Thursday, at the National Economic Council NEC meet­ing chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima.

Briefing State House Cor­respondents on some of their deliberations at NEC, the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello said only 15 states had complied with an initial direc­tive to submit their report to a five man ad hoc committee on flooding constituted by the im­mediate past administration.

He hinted that some of the victims were yet to get com­pensation as a result of the stalled report detailing the extent and impact of flooding in their domain.

One of the issues that came up for discussion were flooding or flood disasters across the country. At the 128th NEC meeting held on 28th October 2022, the then chairman of Nigeria Gover­nors Forum and the former governor of Sokoto state, His Excellency Aminu Wa­ziri Tambuwal, drew the at­tention of the council to the devastating effects of the 2022 floor which affected almost all the states of the Federation.

The council resolved, as at that time, to set up a five man ad hoc committee on flooding, comprising governance of Jigawa, Kogi, Anambra, Bayelsa, Lagos and Yobe States and co-opted some oth­er ministries and agencies.

The terms of reference was to review the current flooding situation in the country and design a template for compen­sation of victims.