JAGISTS

The Presidency yesterday challenged states to give an account of how they spent amounts in excess of one trillion naira, allocated to them from the Ecological Fund to tackle floods and other ecological problems.

This came as the Federal Government said yesterday that the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroun was not responsible for the large-scale flooding in Nigeria.

Several states, including Benue and Kogi in the North-Central; Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta in the South-South, have cried out for help from the Federal Government as they battle to provide succour for victims of floods forced out of their homes and left without shelter, food and potable water.

Roughly N1 trillion, representing 2.2 per cent of the total budget for 2018, 2019 and 2023 was budgeted for ecological and disaster management.

In 2018, 2.2 per cent of the estimated of N9.120 trillion budget, amounting to N198 billion was set aside for the Ecological Fund; in 2019, the 2.2 per cent amount of the budget of N132 billion was allocated for the Fund, while in 2023, 2.2 per cent of the N21 trillion budget indicated  N462 billion allocation for Ecological Fund.

However a search of the website of the Ecological Fund Office for details of accruals and monthly/ quarterly releases to states and federal agencies did not yield the desired results.

A search of the budget implementation report equally did not yield the desired results.

The House of Representatives had since June, launched a probe into the utilization of the fund for the past 10 years.

This is not the first time such a probe is taking place in the National Assembly.

On its part,   the Presidency has continued to query public attention on the Federal Government when in fact, the states and local governments therein received the chunk of ecological funds set aside for disaster management.

Presidential spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, in response to enquiries from Vanguard yesterday, made reference to a comprehensive statement he issued on the subject in August.

In the statement, the Presidency enjoined state governors to rise to the responsibilities of their office by responding to the needs of their citizens in the face of growing floods and other ecologically-related disasters.

This was in response to the growing number of appeals from groups and individuals, including some of the affected state governments, for help.

Garba explained that statutorily, the revenue allocation formula provides that 2.32 per cent of derivation funds was set aside for ecology and disaster management and the amount is shared across the three tiers of government.

He noted that while the Buhari administration remains committed to efforts to alleviate the suffering of citizens affected by flooding and other natural disasters, other tiers of government equally had a responsibility to play their part in disaster management.

According to him, it is high time citizens began to ask relevant state and local government agencies how they spend their share of the Ecological Fund.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President said: “Calls for the Federal Government to respond to all outbreaks of a natural disaster do not display an understanding of Nigerian law.

“While not a national-level emergency, the ongoing flooding is an emergency nevertheless. Nigerian lives and properties are at stake.

“We call on governors of those states that have swung into action and engaged the necessary gear to continue with their efforts, and those that have not, to immediately face their duties of managing the flooding within their jurisdictions – that is the job that the President, governors and council chairmen have been elected to do.

“Each of the three tiers, the local government, the state government and the Federal Government has a sizeable budget at its disposal, allocated monthly precisely for dealing with these state-level natural emergencies, as well as federal agencies dedicated to doing the same.

“It is not clear why some of the state governments in question are not already drawing upon those funds to tackle the current emergency, and the general population is misguidedly calling on the Federal Government to intervene in all situations.

“If those sums of money are, for whatever reason, no longer available, the affected states and local councils must immediately contact the relevant authorities to explain what has happened to those funds.

“Under the prevailing revenue allocation formula, 2.32 per cent of derivation funds are set aside for ecology and disaster management.

“Of this amount, the 36 states and the FCT get 0.72 per cent, the 774 local governments get 0.6 per cent, adding to 1.32 per cent, leaving a balance of one per cent to the government of the federation.

“By the law of the land, NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency) takes 20 per cent of the amount allocated to the Federal Government.

“The North East Development Commission, NEDC, collects 10 per cent, the National Agricultural Land Development Authority, NALDA 10 per cent, and the National Agency for the Great Green Wall, GGW 0.5 per cent, leaving 0.55 of the one per cent to the government at the centre for ecological protection and disaster management.

‘Its’ shared responsibility’

“The President commends the few states that are up in front, doing a yeoman’s effort, averting disasters and managing same where they occur.