Senate committee pledges to expose IDPs’ misappropriated funds

Human rights activist and Chairman, Senate Adhoc Committee on Humanitarian Crisis in the North East, Senator Shehu Sani has vowed that members of the committee would expose those behind the sufferings and lamentation of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency.

According to him, “the Senate Committee on Humanitarian Crisis in the North East was not out to hunt any witch, wizard, unicorn or mermaid,” adding that “our mandate was to investigate and ensure transparency and accountability in the management of public funds allocated to address the tragic humanitarian challenges in the North East.”

He continued: “We were also empowered to fully review and recommend measures to improve on the administration and management of the IDPs. Our interim report points to the reality of the situation on the ground.”

Sani in a statement yesterday explained that “the billions of public and private funds pumped in the name of providing succour to the victims of insurgency in the North East, largely end in private pockets,” noting that “there’s actually a humanitarian crisis and a humanitarian industry in North Eastern Nigeria. The full report will come after the New Year break by God’s willing”.

Meanwhile, a source told The Guardian that “some public officials in Kaduna State were implicated in various contracts linking them to supplies of materials and other items worth hundreds of millions of naira which were not supplied to the IDPs”.