On Tuesday, the Nasarawa State House of Assembly established a seven-person committee to look into claims that state stakeholders and elected officials were diverting palliatives.
The House stated that the committee’s responsibility is to see to it that everyone involved in stealing medications intended for the needy is punished in accordance with the law.
When Hon. Musa Ibrahim Abubakar (NNPP- Doma South) raised issues of public interest during House proceedings in Lafia, Rt. Hon. Ibrahim Abdullahi, Speaker of the House, established the committee.
According to him, the committee is made up of seven men: Hon. Abel Bala, the Deputy Speaker of the House, who serves as Chairman; Hon. Musa Ibrahim; Hon. Barr Esson Mairiga; Hon. Hajara Danyaro; Hon. Luka Zhekaba, the Minority Leader of the House; Hon. Daniel Ogazi; and Hon. Danladi Jatau, who serves as Secretary.
The committee was given three weeks by the Speaker to conduct a comprehensive investigation and report back to the House with recommendations for appropriate action.
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I’ll give you three weeks to do your work and report back to the House, and everyone engaged must be invited at the committee level, he said.
“It is regrettable and very disappointing that some individuals are undermining Mr. President’s and Governor Abdullahi Sule’s noble intentions to lessen the suffering of the underprivileged.
The aim of the palliatives is to mitigate the negative impacts of subsidy elimination. I’m not sure why some folks diverted the majority of the painkillers for themselves and their families.
The Speaker claimed that most of the rice and other palliatives were sold to dealers in markets throughout the state, and he urged the committee to conduct a comprehensive investigation to identify and punish those responsible.
Hon. Danladi Jatau, Hon. Solomon Akwashiki, Hon. Hajara Danyaro, and Hon. Musa Saidu all backed the notion of forming the committee to investigate the alleged diverting of the palliatives intended for the state’s needy citizens in their individual comments.
When the problem was first brought up, the representative for Doma South Constituency, Hon. Musa Ibrahim Abubakar, bemoaned the fact that individuals in charge of distribution were misusing the medications intended for the needy residents of Doma LGA.
He urged the Speaker and other House members to stand with him by forming a committee to look into the suspected diversion of the painkillers.
