Members of the Senate have donated N74m to support the victims of the recent devastating flood that ravaged Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, disclosed this on behalf of the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, when he led some Senators to Maiduguri on Tuesday.
A statement signed by the Special Adviser to the Deputy President of the Senate on Media and Publicity, Ismail Mudashir, on Tuesday, quoted Senator Barau as saying that each of the 108 Senators would donate N500,000 (N54m), while he personally announced the donation of N10m to the victims. Also, the Northern Senators Forum (NSF) also donated addi N10m, totalling N74m from the Senators.
The Senators, who were received by the Borno State governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum, included the chairman of the NSF, Senator Abdulaziz Musa Yar’Adua; chairman of the Southern Senators Forum, Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru; Senator Ikra Aliyu Bilbis (Zamfara Central), Senator Onawo Mohammed Ogoshi (Nasarawa South) and Senator Sadiq Suleiman Umar (Kwara North).
Others were Senator Diket Plang (Plateau Central), Senator Babangida Hussaini (Jigawa North-West), Senator Pam Mwadkon Dachungyang (Plateau North), Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno (Borno North) and Kaka Shehu Lawan (Borno Central).
The Deputy Senate President commiserated with the Borno State Government and the entire people of the State over the devastating flood.
“Your Excellency, we are here to register our condolences and commiserate with you and the entire state over the ugly flood incident in this beautiful Borno last week.
“Whatever touches Borno has touched the entire country. This is why I’m here with some of my colleagues, even though the President of the Senate was here yesterday (Monday) representing the Senate as a whole.
“But it’s our tradition, normally in an occurrence such as this, even if the father or a leader came to register his condolences, that doesn’t stop those that are under him to go individually or collectively and commiserate with the victims.
“We commiserate with you, and we pray that may Allah grant those who lost their lives Jannatul Firdaus. May Allah SWT quicken the recovery of the injured persons, and may He make those who lost their valuables regain them as soon as possible.
“Yesterday (Monday), when the President of the Senate came, he did not tell you what we intended to donate. The situation of the victims profoundly touches us. After our meeting yesterday, we agreed to donate the sum of N54,000,000. Each Senator is donating N500,000, which will be N54m.
“Personally, I am donating the sum of N10million. I pray that this flood will not occur again in Borno State and the entire country,” Senator Barau said.
The Senators also paid a condolence visit to their former colleague, Senator Baba Kaka Garbai, who represented Borno Central in the 8th Senate over the demise of his mother last week.