Reps urge FG to withhold ecological funds from NEMA, others

The House of Representatives on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to withhold further allocation of funds from the Ecological Funds to some agencies, pending its investigation into the alleged misapplication of such funds.

The House specifically requested the minister of finance, budget and national planning, the accountant-general of the federation and the secretary to the government of the federation, to stay action on the allocation of the fund to National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), National Agency for the Great Green Wall, North-East Development Commission (NEDC) and the National Agricultural Land Development Authority.

The Reps also mandated its committee on Ecological Funds to investigate the releases from Funds to these agencies in the last three years and examine the utilisation of the funds allocated to them within the period.

These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion moved by Ibrahim Isiaka (APC, Ogun) during plenary.

Isiaka noted that the Ecological Funds exists as an intervention fund set up by the Federal Government to address multifarious ecological challenges across the country.

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He further added that “apart from the yearly statutory appropriations issued to these agencies, additional funds from the one percent share of the Federal Government are also allocated to Ecology and Derivation Funds.

“While the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) draws 20 percent by virtue of Section 13(2) (b) of its Act, the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) draws 15 percent by virtue of Section 12 (2) (b) of its Act, the North-East Development Commission (NEDC) draws 18 percent by virtue of Section 14(12) (b) of its Act and National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) draws 18 percent by virtue of Section 16 (2) (a) of its Act.

The lawmaker said the House was aware that the four agencies have deviated from the regulation guiding the application of their respective shares of the ecological funds.

“We worried that efforts aimed at making the agencies accountable for their shared funds in the last few years have not yielded any positive result.”

In arriving at their decision, the lawmakers quoted Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) which empowers the National Assembly to conduct an investigation.