A non-governmental organization, NGO, Concerned Citizens for Good Governance, CCGG, has said that the sack of Engr. Mustapha Maihaja as the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA was best in the interest of the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Saturday, through a statement by the Director of Information at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Willie Bassey relieved Maihaja of his duties and replaced him with Muhammadu Alhaji Muhammed, a retired Air Vice Marshal, AVM.
The CCGG, in a statement signed by its President, Adamu Bawa commended the President for his action, alleging that “the high handedness and lack of capacity displayed by the (former) DG affected disaster management and emergency response in the country.”
It added that series of controversies and allegations of corrupt practices levelled against him and some staff of the agency was a source of concern to Nigerians.
“In 2018, the House of Representatives accused him of mismanaging resources as well as creating inefficiency that lead to the setting up of a committee to investigate the release of N5.9 billion food intervention in the North-East.
“Also, (the former DG was accused of misappropriating) the N3.1 billion food intervention in the same region and the release of N1.6 billion for Libyan returnees,” the group stated.
It added that the release of N1.6billion flood intervention for 16 states and donation of 6,779 metric tons of rice by the Chinese Government were part of the corruption allegations made under Maihaja.
According to the CCGG, the government owned Air Ambulance was grounded for many years without repairs while the NEMA staff have at various times shut down operations, due to protests and strike actions in confrontation of his inability to handle their welfare and the agency’s assets” the statement read.
It further stated that “at a time when all ministries, departments and agencies were synergizing towards effective COVID-19 response, NEMA under Maihaja as a strategic agency was sabotaging effective delivery of palliatives via insubordination, slow delivery of food items to states and operating in isolation in order to cover up his corrupt practices.”
The NGO president while congratulating the new director general tasked him to be proactive in dealing with issues bothering on disaster management and emergency response, especially at this critical time when the entire world is in an emergency state.
