FEC release disaster relief fund for swift emergency response

The Federal Executive Council has approved the creation of a Disaster Relief Fund to enable prompt and effective assistance to victims of disasters across the country.

This initiative will enable timely relief and recovery efforts across the country, streamlining support for communities affected by floods, fires, and other emergencies.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, stated this on Monday while briefing State House Correspondents shortly after the FEC meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Edun said, “The Fund will source finances from the three tiers of government and private sector players for flood victims.”

The minister also disclosed that the council has constituted a Technical Committee to reassess the dams across the country, particularly the Alau Dam in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.

According to Edun, the committee is to be chaired by the Minister of Water Resources, Professor Joseph Utsev, and has other members.

Recall  that the Borno capital was flooded two weeks ago following the collapse of the Alau Dam, a critical infrastructure designed to regulate water flow and provide irrigation and drinking water.

  According to the National Emergency Management Agency, over 70 per cent of Maiduguri was submerged by the fast-moving water, displacing over a million residents and resulting in 30 casualties.