Minister’s Non-appearance: Reps May Remove Humanitarian Ministry From 2022 Budget

Following consistent failure by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Umar Farouk, to appear before the House Committee on Humanitarian Affairs to defend the 2022 Budget of the Ministry, the House of Representatives has threatened to take decisive action against the Ministry.

The House may not approve allocation to the Ministry if the Minister fails to honour the invitation to come and defend the estimates of the Ministry.

Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Hon. Muktar Aliyu Betara, summoned the Minister to appear before its Committee to defend the budget or the House will be forced to take a decisive action. Betara said the minister has consistently refused to appear before the House Committee, but prefer to send the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry.

He said “Sadiya Farouq, rather than appear before the Committee, kept delegating the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Nura Alkali, to do this function.

“Alkali had made herself available, but the committee was uncomfortable with the Minister’s behaviours, making it to reject the Permanent Secretary’s appearance. The Committee is insisting that the Minister, who superintendent the spendings in the ministry, should come forward to account and not the Permanent Secretary.” Betara said he would never approve the Permanent Secretary to defend the budget, insisting that Sadiya Farouq must be at the committee in person to defend her ministry’s budget, saying “the Minister had overseen huge spendings of national funds on palliative in the 2020 and 2021 budgets, and the Committee would want her to account for them.”