Former DG NEMA, Engr Maihaja
By Sam Tor
A Non Governmental Organization, Concerned Citizens for Good Governance has commended President Muhammadu Buhari for sacking Engr. Mustapha Maihaja of his duties as Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and replacing him with Air Vice Marshal Muhammadu Alhaji Muhammed (rtd).
In a statement issued and signed by the President, Adamu Bawa which was
made available to news men in Abuja, said Maihaja’s sack was best in the interest of the country noting that the high handedness and lack of capacity displayed by the DG affected disaster management and emergency response in the country.
The statement 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.
The statement said “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 N5.9billion Food Intervention in the North-east, also the N3.1billion Food Intervention in the same region and the release of N1.6 billion for Libyan returnees.
It said that release of N1.6 billion Flood Intervention for 16 states and donation of 6,779 metric tonnes of rice by the Chinese Government were allegations made under Maihaja.
The statement said that government owned Air Ambulance was grounded for many years without repairs and Civil Servants of the Agency have at various times shut down operations, embarked on strikes and protests in confrontation of his inability to handle their personnel welfare and agency’s assets,” the statement read.
It further stated that at a time when all Ministries, Departments and Agencies are synergizing towards effective COVID19 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 to cover up his corrupt operations.
The NGO president while congratulating the new DG AVM Muhammed tasked him to be proactive in dealing with issues bordering disaster management and emergency response especially at this critical time when the entire world is in an emergency state.
