Nigeria’s Senate Committee on Special Duties on Tuesday commended the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for what it described as timely humanitarian interventions across the country, as the agency’s Director-General appeared before lawmakers to defend its 2026 budget proposal.
The Director-General, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, led NEMA’s management team to the National Assembly for the budget defence session, where she presented a detailed account of the agency’s 2025 performance and outlined projections for the coming fiscal year.
Chaired by Senator Kaka Shehu Lawan, the committee engaged the agency in what officials described as robust discussions, focusing on disaster response operations, funding requirements and strategic planning.
During the session, Umar highlighted key interventions undertaken in 2025, including emergency response operations and ongoing humanitarian support initiatives across multiple states. She said the agency’s activities over the past year were geared toward mitigating the impact of natural and human-induced disasters on vulnerable communities.
Looking ahead to 2026, the NEMA chief outlined the agency’s strategic priorities, emphasizing the need to strengthen disaster preparedness, rapid response capacity, recovery frameworks and risk reduction mechanisms nationwide.
The budget defence, held on February 10, 2026, forms part of the National Assembly’s oversight function and review process for federal agencies’ spending plans.
NEMA plays a central role in coordinating Nigeria’s response to floods, fires, building collapses, communal crises and other emergencies, working with state governments and humanitarian partners to deliver relief materials and support affected populations.
Lawmakers said they would continue to work with the agency to ensure it is adequately resourced to meet its mandate of disaster management and humanitarian coordination across Africa’s most populous nation.
