The National Economic Council, NEC has set up a committee to audit the Nation’s Ecological Fund.
The fund was created to ensure effective implementation of government policies and programmes on environmental and ecological problems, and is directly under the supervision of the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF. It has become a cesspool of corruption over the years.
Icirnigeria.org has published in-depth investigations of the massive corruption that has characterized the utilization of the ecological funds across all the geo-political areas of the country.
You can find the reports here, here, here, here, here and here
Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State told state house correspondents after the NEC meeting on Thursday that the probe committee has as its members the governors of Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Borno, Imo, Kaduna and Oyo.
Also the Ministers of Finance and Environment are part of the committee.
The National Economic Council comprises governors of the 36 states of the federation and is chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Explaining the reason for the audit of the ecological funds, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State, noted that it was observed that the balance of the fund appears to be dwindling, despite the fact that no money has been paid to any state from the fund since President Buhari assumed office almost two years ago.
“No state has collected money from the ecological funds in the last one or two years and we notice that the balance is going down. Somebody must be touching it,” he said.
Governor Obiano had disclosed that according to the Accountant General of the Federation, the balance in the Ecological Fund stood at N33.6 billion.
He also revealed that the balance in the Natural Resources Fund stood at N70.9 billion, while the balance in the excess crude account as at April 26, 2017 stood at $2.2 billion dollars.
The governor also noted that the finance minister, Kemi Adeosun told the NEC that the newly established efficiency unit at the ministry has so far saved Nigeria N17 billion, advising state governors to consider establishing the unit in their states.
Also, the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno, briefed the council on the security situation in the country, which centred around the activities of cattle rustlers, herdsmen and farmers clashes and criminal elements.
Obiano quoted Monguno as assuring the state governors that security agencies in the country are currently engaged “in general nationwide crackdown on all criminal elements.”