Crimes

Reps: How agency spent N81.2bn to plant 21m trees

The House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the utilisation of ecological funds released to the National Agency for the Great Green Wall (NAGGW) has uncovered N81.2 billion allegedly spent to plant 21 million trees in 11 states.

The investigation is from 2015 till date.

11 states where the trees are planted include Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Yobe, and Borno.

The chairman of the committee, Isma’ila Dabo, while speaking in Abuja on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, decried the persistence of environmental challenges inspite of funds put into the programme.

Dabo said the funds put by the Federal Government and international partners necessitated the investigation.

He said the committee would embark on-the-spot assessment tour of all the projects executed under the scheme to ascertain the claims.

The lawmaker stated that the committee was not out to scandalise any individual or organisation but only to ensure that public funds were utilised for the purpose they were given.

“We will not shy away from pointing fingers where necessary, not out of personal animosity but simply in the national interest of our nation,” Dabo said.

The committee expressed displeasure over conflicting financial reports submitted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (oAGF) to the committee.

Piqued by the inability of the agency to substantiate most of the tree planting projects carried out so far, the committee said 80 per cent of trees planted by the agency did not survive.

Meanwhile, the documents submitted by the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Oluwatoyin Madein, showed that N19.378 billion was released from the derivation and Ecology Accounts to the agency from February 2019 to date.

Responding to questions from the committee, NAGGW Managing Director, Dr Yusuf Bukar, said the Great Green Wall Act was signed by the president in 2015.

He said it enabled the agency to implement the Nigerian component of the programme as an initiative of the African Union being implemented in 11 African countries.

This according to him, is to address the problem of land degradation, desertification, drought, climate change, and livelihood of affected communities.

Bukar said the agency planted 1 million trees in Borno, Yobe, and other states, adding that N2.4 billion was released in the first phase and N7.3 billion released in the second phase.

He added that the fund accruing into the agency’s account included 15 per cent of the ecological fund for the Great Green Wall, contribution of fund from the natural resources development fund and gifts.

Others included loans and grants in aid from national bilateral, multilateral organisations and donors, international and development agencies as well as individuals.

Bukar said the agency got funds from donor agencies.

He, however, did not provide relevant documents on the amount received so far.

The Star