Damilola Oyedele in Abuja
The Senate Committee on Special Duties has warned that the interventions for persons affected by the activities of Boko Haram, are being threatened by paucity of funds, being experienced by the committee.
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Murtala Nyako (Adamawa APC) speaking yesterday during an oversight visit to the PCNI office in Abuja, said the N45 billion appropriated for the PCNI in the 2017 budget is too little for the body to effectively carry out its mandate.
He lamented that the PCNI only received about seven percent of the N45 billion, even though more releases are being expected before the lifespan of the 2017 budget is terminated.
“We have seen what PCNI is doing. We are happy with the framework of PCNI. They really need support to do better. We feel that with the right kind of support, particularly funding, they will achieve their purpose. We have come to put them on their toes because they really have to be on their toes to do the needful and lift the area out of humanitarian crisis. My candid opinion is that what they are getting is too small for any meaningful impact to be made,†Nyako said.
“In 2017, they got N45 billion for six states which gives approximately N7 billion per state. One or two local governments in Adamawa can swallow N7 billion. We appreciate the constraints on the side of the federal government. It is our job to put more pressure so that more money will be made available to rehabilitate the North-east and lift the area out devastation,†the lawmaker added.
Speaking further, Nyako added that the task of rehabilitating the region from the devastation caused by Boko Haram, and the attendant humanitarian crises, requires all hands to be on deck.
The Vice Chairman of the PCNI, Mr. Tijjani Musa Timsah, said inadequacy of funds has become a huge challenge to its activities, even though many IDPs have been resettled and rehabilitated by its efforts.
“We have been able to chat a course and created a document which is a strategic framework for all intervention programmes we are doing. But paucity of fund is the greatest challenge the PCNI is facing,†he said.
The challenge, he lamented, is coming at a time when the committee is moving away from just humanitarian efforts, to developmental efforts for affected persons.
“We have continued to recover more space from the insurgents due mostly to the gallantry of our military through the purposeful leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari. More areas are now open to people who were before now displaced. More and more displaced persons have returned to their daily activities of farming and other daily livelihood,†Timsah said.
