TheCable

The Bayelsa government has rejected the position of the federal government that Jigawa is the state most affected by flooding.

Sadiya Umar Farouq, minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, had, on Thursday, said Jigawa is the state worst-hit by flooding.

The minister had also said Bayelsa is not among the 10 most-affected states, adding that death toll, as well as the number of farmlands and buildings destroyed were part of the criteria used to carry out the assessment.

Reacting to the federal government’s posotion, the Bayelsa government, in a statement on Friday by Ayiba Duba, commissioner for information, said the data used to declare Jigawa as most affected state is “erroneous”.

“Indeed, the minister is already turning into part of the disaster she was appointed to manage. She had earlier claimed that only four local government areas of the state were impacted by the unprecedented flood,” NAN quoted Duba as saying.

“She was obviously relying on bogus data in contradiction to the clear reality that every local government area in the state is impacted by the flood in varying degrees.

“The way the minister has treated our state is so unfortunate that our people are beginning to doubt that we are part of Nigeria.

“And we are asking, is Bayelsa state still part of Nigeria? Are we only important when it is time to exploit the resources in our land? If the minister is sincere, let her tell Nigerians the relief materials brought to the state and who received them.

“How can a state up north — Jigawa — be worst impacted when indeed Bayelsa state has the unfortunate responsibility of receiving the flood water that ran through more than 15 states?

“The data used by the federal ministry to arrive at the conclusion is suspect and erroneous. And no other state in the federation is so impacted.

“If the minister is desirous of doing a good job, she should come to Bayelsa state to ascertain the truth, even as the flood has started to recede.”