Tobias Sylvester
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Sadiya Umar Farouq, reportedly wept on Wednesday, during a heated argument with her Communications and Digital Economy colleague, Isa Ali Pantami.
The incident was said to have happened during the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
According to SaharaReporters, the disagreement between the two ministers after Pantami presented his ministry’s planned activities for approval, which included the mapping and registration of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) across the country.
Immediately after Pantami’s submission, Farouq furiously raised her hand to speak and exoress objection to the approval for such activities pending review and approval from her own ministry.
It was learnt that President Buhari was inclined to agree with Sadia, considering the supervisory role of Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs on IDPs, but Pantami strongly objected to the opposition of Farouq.
The Communication Minister reminding her of the statutory power and role of the National Identity Management Commision in capturing and registering citizens, IDP or not.
During the argument, Pantami was said to broke the camels back when he flaunted a letter written by his ministry to Farouq’s office on October 15, 2020, with no response a month after.
It was at this point that President Buhari went ahead and approved the memo from Pantami, granting the go ahead from NIMC to capture the IDPs.
It was gathered that Farouq, who had always used her closeness to President Buhari, to intimidate, manipulate and harass her fellow ministers was humbled.
A source said the ninister openly wept immediately after the meeting, accusing Pantami of disgracing her before the President and other colleagues.
“Farouq is very afraid, she has this fear that the capturing is capable of exposing the corruption usually perpetrated in the name of IDPs,” the source said.
KanyiDaily recalls that last year, rumours emerged from the Aso Rock that President Buhari will be getting married to Sadiya Farouq who has been his close friend for a very long time.
This came following the continued absence of the current First Lady, Aisha Buhari, who had been out of the country for over two months at that time.
