 Hello, it's another edition of Flush Reports, a compilation of the stories and events that made the news recently. Welcome, I'm Jacinta Obuco. We are starting off on the 2022 Budget Defense Weir Chairman National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. Retired Brigadier General Buber Mauer has said the agency needs adequate funding to function optimally and efficiently as drug barons are tempting its officers. He said this during the 2022 Budget Defense Office Agency before the House of Representatives Committee on Drugs and Narcotics in Abuja. In his presentation, Mauer supported the proposal by the committee that the NDLEA should be drawing funds from the police trust fund. Details in this report. Drug addiction and trafficking is a major social and economic concern across the globe and Nigeria as a nation is not left out. Billions of dollars have been voted every year by these countries to fire the scotch as well as going to cross-border agreements to stop the illicit trade from getting into the countries. What either testimony from the current chairman of the agency during his 2022 Budget Defense is anything to go by. Nigeria is still scratching the suffers in the fight against illicit drugs. Whether there are still numerous areas both in the overheads and in the capital as we have explained for the help, for your help to intervene and enhance so that the effectiveness of drug law enforcement across the board will be assured, recognizing the threat of national security that we face. For the broad-dressing V's, the former governor of Lagos State leased at various areas the agency is lacking, which includes inadequate funding to acquire AMS and ammunition, vehicles for operation, accommodation for staff and low budget for media and publicity to mention a few. The committee expressed their desire to assist the agency in every way possible to function effectively and efficiently. We are also very mindful that in spite of the challenges we've had over the years in the funding and what have you, we also know very clearly that there are also some bad acts in that organization who have now actually put to maximum use some of the resources available to them. What should be put in place to ensure that the NDLA is taken as a priority agency because the drug situation in this country requires an emergency. That is the truth. Everywhere primary school, secondary school, market, everywhere. The committee promised to render all the assistance when Shor Mo funding for the agency to provide equipment and for the welfare of its personnel to enable it to block access to illicit drugs within and into the country. Considering the immense contributions of small-holder women farmers in the agricultural sector, farmers in the federal capital territory under the aegis of small-scale women farmers organization are calling for more funding for the agriculture sector in the 2022 budget year. This was contained in a communique reached after a state-level stakeholders' consultative meeting. More in this report. These farmers from the federal capital territory brainstormed on ways to press home their demand for more funding for agriculture in the 2022 FCT budget. In the communique issued after more than four hours, they called for the effectiveness participation of small-holder women farmers towards making the 2022 agriculture budget more responsive towards food security. Two, advocating for increasing budget allocation to FCT agricultural budget in line with the 10% Malabo commitment. Three, presenting the Analyze 2020-21 agricultural budget to stakeholders to show where gaps need to be filled and lastly, generating key budget line items that target small-holder women farmers for increased productivity and poverty reduction which can be included in the 2022 agriculture budget. They also came up with some recommendations which include promoting gender mainstreaming budgeting allocation as well as to ensure timely passage of the 2022 budget as well as strictly adhere to the January to December budget cycle. It is imperative for FCT to determine the number of farmers in FCT and disaggregate such statistics along gender and scale of operation line as part of necessary steps towards proper planning. Representative of Action Aid explained the importance of the meeting as it concerns the less privileged in the society and why it is partnering in noble cause like this. As FCT is preparing the budget for the 2022, we are supporting the farmers and under NGOs to engage with the budget process for the agricultural sector for 2022. So this consultative meeting is for them to be able to present an analysis of what was in the 2021 agricultural budget and the gaps identified and to also push for things they feel that should be captured in the 2022 agricultural budget. They called on the media to be partners in this advocacy as a way of encouraging participation in the sector as well as remind the government on the importance of agriculture. Opinions also having that if the nation must be reckoned with in terms of food security and production, the 2022 budget should create a specific budget for both youths and women as their role in food production cannot be underestimated. The House of Representatives Committee on Steel summoned the managing director of Premion for Felin to appear before an ongoing investigation into the mismanagement of Delta Steel Company a large job. The summons became necessary following his refusal to testify on the alleged re-cage of the multi-billion dollars Delta Steel Company. It was established in 1979 by the federal government to drive the industrial revolution in Nigeria. These are council and management team of premium steel staggering a walkout from the public investigation. These was amiss protest by leaders of host community of Udu local government where the company cited reason is the community turned down the request of a council from premium steel to address it on behalf of the managing director but the committee rejected the move insisting that the managing director must appear in person. He berated the councils for their irresponsible behavior. The deputy chairman say aye. Aye. Aye. Those against say no. Aye. Aye. So Mr. Chairman you can step down. Honourable Benjamin Iqbaka had earlier briefed on importance of investigating the takeover by premium steel from global infrastructure. Also the downward slide and why it has become expedient to this time in the life of the country many staff minds and steel development Uchiaga exonerated the ministry in the takeover process of Delta Steel from global infrastructure to premium steel but called for an open investigation. Mr. Chairman it was discovered that the new company that did that acquisition was actually registered when the bid for this acquisition was already on. That is to say that that company was registered to buy Delta Steel and as it is today Delta Steel a lot of the equipment in that place that used to employ over 5000 young men and women is a ghost of his own shadow. There are a lot of issues on that asset because the asset was used to borrow money and in the process of borrowing money was transferred to Amcon and Amcon had to sell. Is it not true? Yes. So why you say I know because the global infrastructure was involved but along the line they were involved they used the asset which was one of the reasons they were not supposed to use the assets of the company to borrow money. So the borrowed money and in the process Amcon had to transfer the debt to Amcon and Amcon has sold the asset to premium steel. A glory tale of balkanization of Delta Steel edifices by premium steel management progressive use of the community. There are just about three of them that are running the entire company as we speak today. No other person is there with them that took about 20 community boys those are the only people you can find in that yard if you go there. Premium steel is not capable, it's not capable, they don't have finance, they don't have money to run the plant. The investigation is expected to continue on Wednesday November 3rd when the managing director of premium steel is expected to appear to testify before the committee. The House of Representatives investigated allegations of land and housing racketeering against staff of the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, thus include accusations of forgery and cloning of land documents. Other petitions are bothered on the location of lands without the minister's approval and revocation of land titles without following due process. A Pujarile estate is a multi-millionaire sector with buildings coming up every day. But these housing investments are overshadowed by the activities of frauds, stares, sometimes with the active participation of staff of the Federal Capital Development Authority. This is the reason the House of Representatives set up and add her committee to investigate developers in the capital city. The current housing deficit in Nigeria, which is estimated to be between 17 and 20 billion housing units, and also set to be increasing annually by about 900,000 units, the potential cost of overcoming this deficit is also put at about 6 billion. This highlights the huge opportunity that exists in the real estate sector. However, there are gaps in the relevant legislation that empower some real estate developers while they capitalize on this opportunity to also operate with impunity. Work with relevant stakeholders and ministries, departments and agencies of government, to work from latent laws, issuing guidelines for other appropriate legislation and regulations for more than a trillion naira sets up. The Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Audit-related Offences Commission is here at a seating of the House Committee to submit partitions received against staff of the FCDA. Efforts should be made towards improving transparency in mass housing projects by providing walkable evaluation mechanisms to eliminate corruption generally that dug these schemes. Government should, and as I've said earlier on, at least the current Minister has made the effort towards creating data banks of stakeholder experiences, information sharing, in order to educate people who aspire to own land. As the hearing continues, the Minister of the FCT promised to accept the recommendations of the House of Representatives Committee. We'll be able to look at all these issues across the entire value chain, including all the issues raised by the Chairman of ICPC, so that at the end of the day, the committee will guide us through its robust conclusion of the discussions here, so that I think ultimately the whole objective is a way forward. Estate developers, civil society groups, the police and other stakeholders, we're all present at the hearing. We will now go on short break, we will be right back for more.