On Wednesday, the House of Representatives discovered records that purportedly showed the National Agency for the Great Green Wall spent an astounding N81.2 billion on the planting of 21 million trees throughout 11 frontline states.
Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Yobe, and Borno are the states in question.
The lawmakers raised concerns about the conflicting financial reports provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, and the Agency during the investigative hearing into the “Utilisation of ecological funds released to National Great Green Wall from 2015 to date.” They also questioned some of the expenditures made during the period under consideration.
After carefully reading the documents provided to the Ad-hoc Committee, the lawmakers who spoke claimed that N11.28 billion had been spent on capital projects, N697.372 billion had been spent on claiming ownership of projects completed by lawmakers under the Constituency Project as its own project, and three States had been excluded from the tree-planting initiative.
The senators questioned Wareho’s use of many billion naira in the Agency’s account for years without returning them to the government coffer in accordance with the rules at the time.
The parliamentarians bemoaned the Agency’s failure to conduct a financial audit since its creation and expressed disapproval of the enormous sums spent on capacity building and other subheads that are unrelated to the Agency’s statutory duties.
The parliamentarians who commented on their independent findings said that 80% of the trees planted by the Agency did not live, which alarmed them given the Agency’s incapacity to support the majority of the tree planting programs carried out thus far.
Recall that in 2015, some Federal Ministry of Environment officers misappropriated N1 billion that belonged to the Agency, but Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offenses were able to retrieve it.
According to the authorities, the Bureau de Change and a few financial institutions helped carry out the illegal transfers.
The Central Bank of Nigeria provided a 6-page document with the reference number BKS/CSO/CON/NASS/005/082 dated August 22, 2023, stating that the Agency’s account had a total balance of N9,465,960,382.57 from 2015 to the present.
The CBN Director, Mr. Samuel Okudere, revealed in his presentation that only one of the seven accounts opened by the Agency was a mandated account.
While this was going on, records provided by Mrs. Oluwatoyin Madein, the Accountant General of the Federation, revealed that the Agency received a total of N19.378 billion from the Derivation & Ecology Accounts from February 2019.
The Agency additionally received N11.02 billion in capital expenditures from the AGF.
President Muhammadu Buhari has given his approval for the transfer of N2.309 billion to the Agency as a September 2020 Statutory 5% Ecology Fund, according to the Director of the AGF, Mrs. Irene Nwangwu.
The Great Green Wall Act, which Mr. President signed in 2015, allows the Agency to implement the Nigerian component of the program as an African Union initiative being implemented in 11 African countries to cogently address the problem of land degradation, desertification, drought, climate change, and livelihood of affected communities, according to NAGGW Managing Director Dr. Yusuf Bukar in response to questions from the lawmakers.
He said that the Agency had planted a million trees in Borno, Yobe, and other states, spending N2.4 billion in the first phase and N7.3 billion in the second.
He continued by saying that among the funds accruing to the Agency’s account are: 15% of the ecological fund for the Great Green Wall; a contribution from the fund for the development of natural resources; and gifts, loans, and grants in aid from national bilateral, multilateral, and donor organizations; international and development agencies; as well as private individuals.
He confirmed that the Agency receives funding from donor agencies but was unable to produce the necessary records to support the amount so far.
He acknowledged that the Agency had strayed from its initial mandate when responding to inquiries about different violations in the execution of its functions.
Speaker Tajudeen Abbas outlined the mandate of the Ad-hoc Committee during the flag-off of the investigative session.
from 2015 to the present, all releases and funding received from donors or international organizations; All budgetary and other Federal funds given to the National Agency for the Great Green Wall from 2015 to the present; the use of environmental funds given to the Great Green Wall by international organizations; all contracts granted to different contractors for the project from 2015 to the present; the total amount received through the policy; and the degree of compliance with the goals and objectives of the projects.
Abbas, who was represented by Hon. Dickson Tarkir, stated that the goals of this investigative hearing are to gather information to ensure that the program is carried out as effectively as possible, identify obstacles to project execution, reveal corruption, and assist the new administration in continuing to carry out this policy, which is essential to both the welfare and security of our country.
Additionally, the use of public funds and making sure they follow the recommendations of this hearing fulfills the obligation of the legislature to establish policies of public interest and annual budgetary provisions, not to mention donations from both domestic and foreign donor organizations.
The Ad-hoc Committee Chairman, Hon. Isma’ila Dabo, stated in his remarks that this investigation was necessary to give all parties a fair hearing and to bring all issues affecting the successful implementation of the project to the table because these environmental challenges persisted despite funding for the program from both the federal government and international partners.
After the hearing, “we will start an on-the-spot assessment tour to all the projects carried out under this scheme to verify the claims,” he said.
“The Ad-hoc committee is steadfast in its commitment to completing this task in the best interests of all Nigerians. We are merely here to make sure that public monies are used for what they are intended for, not to embarrass any specific person or group. Not out of personal hostility but merely in the interest of our country, we won’t hesitate to point fingers when necessary.
