Farouq had stated that ‘Bayelsa is not among the 10 worst hit states’ when she appeared at the ministerial briefing organised by the Presidential Communications team at the Presidential Villa on Thursday.
The minister hinged her conviction on a number of factors which she said included the number of displaced persons and deaths recorded per state, injuries, partially damaged or totally damaged houses as well as ravaged farmlands.
But Nabena faulted her conclusion, saying the yardsticks deployed were not enough to exclude a seriously affected state like Bayelsa.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Friday, the former APC image maker disclosed that the Federal Government should be interested on how to quickly prevent a recurrence of the phenomenon, stating that flood was preventable.
The Bayelsa politician consequently warned the Humanitarian Affairs Minister not to introduce religion and tribe into the current flood disaster.
He said, “I think the minister is worried that Bayelsa is receiving all the attention. She would have preferred Jigawa state which she has awarded the first position.
“Madam Minister need not worry herself because Bayelsa will not be interested in this kind of competition as to who would come first in a calamity.
“She should be more concerned about how the Federal Government will prevent a reccurrence of the phenomenon. It is preventable and can be mitigated since the flood has a known circle.”
While challenging the minister to disclose if she had ever visited the Niger Delta since the current disaster happened, Nabena warned that it would be unfair for anybody to bring in ethnoreligious sentiments into a matter of national emergency.
“One will wonder if as a minister for humanitarian affairs, you have ever visited the Niger Delta region to know the level of this disaster they have been facing after drilling the oil and the cost of spillages everywhere in the region,” he said.
