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English: The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Bola Tinubu to “direct the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice Mr. Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, and appropriate anti-corruption agencies to urgently investigate the disbursement of billions of naira of Ecology Fund collected by Borno State since 2001, including the N816 million collected by the state between January 2024 and June 2024.”
SERAP stated, “Suspects of alleged corruption and mismanagement of ecological funds must be prosecuted properly, if there is sufficient valid evidence, and the proceeds of corruption must be returned in full.”
SERAP also urged the president to “direct Mr Fagbemi and relevant anti-corruption agencies to urgently identify and ensure access to justice and effective redress for the victims affected in Borno state.”
SERAP urged him to “direct Mr George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation to collaborate with appropriate anti-corruption agencies to track and monitor the expenditure of the Ecology Fund by the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, the 36 state governors, the 774 local governments as well as all emergency management agencies across the country funded through the Ecology Fund.”
In a letter dated September 21, 2024 and signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “Your government has a legal obligation to address the rampant flooding across the country and its impact on communities, and to ensure that money meant to stop the flooding is not lost to corruption.”
SERAP stated, “There is a legitimate public interest in ensuring justice for the victims of the Borno floods, and accountability for the use of the monthly ecological funds collected by the state through the Federal Account Allocation Committee. [FAAC]”.”
The letter reads in part: “Although the ecology fund is shared among the three tiers of government and the emergency management agency, it is managed and supervised by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“The devastation in Borno highlights your government’s obligation to promote and ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of ecological funds by all levels of government and emergency management agencies.”
“SERAP noted that Borno state receives millions of naira every month through the Federal Allocation Committee as part of the Ecology Fund.
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“Other states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja also receive funds from the Ecology Fund every month. According to reports, trillions of naira have been budgeted through the Ecology Fund over the years to address flooding and other ecological issues.
“SERAP is concerned that ecological funds collected by Borno state over the years may have been diverted, misused or unaccounted for.
“SERAP is also concerned by reports that funds released to states for ecological projects are marked by mismanagement, diversion of funds, substandard and abandoned projects that have already been paid in full.”
“Ecological funds are also alleged to have been spent for other purposes such as election campaigns and political patronage.
“We would appreciate it if the recommended steps are taken within 7 days of receipt and/or issuance of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP will consider appropriate legal action to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.”
The organization continued, “According to reports, the recent flooding in Borno started when a dam [the Alau Dam in Maiduguri] City walls collapsed after heavy rain. More than 30 people were reported killed in the floods.
“About one million people have been affected, most of them living in camps without food and clean water. According to the National Disaster Management Agency (NEMA), 229 people have died in floods in Nigeria since the beginning of the year. The worst floods in recent times killed 600 people in 2022.
“According to a four-year audit of the Ecology Fund Office conducted by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the total funds allocated and received by the fund from December 2011 to November 2016 amounted to N277 billion.”
“The Fund’s operations from 2012 to 2016 reportedly showed that some of the disbursements were not used for the intended purposes. During the period, N74,170,932,645.20 was disbursed to Local Governments to address ecological challenges in their Areas.”
“SERAP notes that the Ecological Fund was established in 1981 to respond to and address serious ecological problems such as soil erosion, floods, droughts, desertification, oil spills, general environmental pollution and other related problems, and to prevent suffering and possible loss of life resulting from these natural disasters.”
FLOODS: SERAP urges Tinubu to probe Borno govt’s spending of ecological funds first appeared on Latest Nigeria News | Headlines from Ripples Nigeria.
