Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq has said that she will not be deterred by belly-aching detractors who will stop at nothing to derail the lofty Social Investment Programmes (SIP) of the Buhari-led administration to lift 100 million vulnerable Nigerians out of poverty by 2030.
The minister explained in a statement that at no time did she divert the programme meant for the 36 states of the federation and the FCT to Bauchi, nor did she ever abandon the responsibilities in her office to relocate to Bauchi.
According to the statement signed yesterday by her media officer, Nneka Ikem Anibeze and made available to journalists in Bauchi, the minister has on the contrary been working tirelessly and assiduously to ensure that no vulnerable Nigerian is left to go hungry, and to lift them higher than where she met them.
It could be recalled that a Bauchi based group, “APC Initiative for Good Governance”, in a statement signed by one Nasiru Cigari alleged that “Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq diverted Social Investment Programmes meant for the entire country to Bauchi State.
The group also accused the minister of “abandoning her office and relocating to Bauchi to push the political interest of her husband, Air Vice Marshal Abubakar Sadique (Rtd), who is contesting the 2023 governorship of Bauchi state on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).