MOKWA, Nigeria (CHATNEWSTV) — A non-governmental organization, Environment Watch, has blamed the recent flood disaster in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State on the federal government’s failure to implement the 2025 budget of the Ministry of Works.
The disaster, which occurred on Thursday, killed 151 people and displaced more than 3,000, according to local officials.
In a statement issued Saturday, Environment Watch decried the delay in executing the 2025 budget five months into the fiscal year, alleging that it stalled critical drainage and erosion control projects across the country.
“This would have greatly mitigated the Mokwa flood disaster,” the group said.
Speaking during a visit to an internally displaced persons (IDPs) camp, the NGO’s programme manager, Haruna Ndazogi, criticized Minister of Works David Umahi for failing to begin the procurement process for federally funded projects.
“Unless concrete measures are taken, there will be more flood disasters in different parts of the country,” Ndazogi warned. “The rains have only just begun, and most of these projects have not been given priority by the Works Ministry.”
Ndazogi said available information showed that while other ministries and agencies had commenced awarding contracts for 2025, the Ministry of Works had yet to begin.
“Minister Umahi, for reasons best known to him, has refused to kick-start the process in the Works Ministry,” he said. “We are worried that if care is not taken, we may be experiencing more and more flood disasters, since roads, culverts, and bridges that would have been fixed had the ministry approved contracts from the 2025 fiscal year are left in a state of disrepair.”
The NGO said it had engaged some members of the National Assembly who confirmed that roads, culverts, and other infrastructure had been included in the 2025 budget as constituency projects. However, they said the lack of implementation was hampering progress.
Environment Watch also accused the minister of focusing exclusively on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, to the detriment of other critical infrastructure across the country.
“It is unfortunate that the Works Ministry is frustrating the implementation of the federal government’s infrastructure agenda,” the statement added. “Something concrete and urgent must be done to address the nation’s infrastructure decay.”
The group called on President Bola Tinubu to “weed out bad eggs” in his cabinet, alleging that some top officials were sabotaging the administration’s efforts to improve citizens’ lives.
