President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday directed the minister of water resources to lead a coordinated action alongside other relevant ministers, against the ravaging floods in different parts of the country.
The directive comes as efforts by well-meaning Nigerians, including presidential candidates of the leading opposition political parties, such as the Labour Party (LP) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to take the lead in providing the much-needed succour to the flood victims.
The Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi has been touring states affected by the floods and providing relief materials. Similarly, the PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, is expected to flag off his tour of the flood-ravaged states on Tuesday.
A statement released by the Atiku media team said the presidential candidate and former vice president will commence a tour of states with high incidents of flooding across all geo-political zones in the country on Tuesday.
Atiku’s media adviser, Paul Ibe had stated that the PDP presidential flag bearer would be visiting Bayelsa State, to kick-start the tour.
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According to Ibe, “the tour to the flood-ravaged states has become imperative in view of the trauma that the incidents have caused victims.
In a statement by Garba Shehu, the presidential spokesman, on Monday, President Buhari directed the minister of water resources to work with the ministries of environment and transportation as well as state governments to develop a Comprehensive Plan of Action for preventing flood disaster in Nigeria.
The 2022 flooding which has thrown several Nigerian communities into hardship, has submerged homes in over 34 states and destroyed properties estimated at billions of naira.
Garba Shehu blamed several factors, including climate change, ravaging the environment with droughts out of season, due to wild weather patterns.
He said the president’s directive, was conveyed to the minister in a letter signed by the chief of staff, Ibrahim Gambari,
In the letter, Buhari gave the minister 90 days to come up with an enduring plan which should be presented to him.
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