Afraid of
being probed for alleged embezzlement of N432,502.466,521 Ecological
Funds, many governors have inundated the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) with enquiries on their fate.
It was learnt that they sought to know those to be probed and for which period.
Already, the EFCC has started tracking
the funds remitted to the states. There were indications yesterday that
the commission might release the list of the states being investigated
or invite top officials connected with the disbursement of the Funds.
Investigation revealed that about N432.5
billion was paid into the Ecological Funds between 2007 and 2015. About
N48,055,829,613 were paid into the funds yearly.
It was gathered that about N245,721,482,473 was allegedly wasted by some governors between 2011 and 2015.
Preliminary finding by the EFCC and
Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) indicated
that the Ecological Funds were diverted to other use by many of the
ex-governors.
Some of the states, where some past
governors and acting governors are under probe are: Adamawa, Bauchi,
Borno, Gombe, Kogi, Enugu, Delta, Cross River, Plateau, Benue, Jigawa,
Ondo, Sokoto and Abia.
Former Plateau State Governor Joshua
Dariye, a senator, is being prosecuted by the EFCC for alleged
mismanagement of N1.2billion Ecological cash.
Serving governors are also being watched by the EFCC over how they use the Fund.
The agency has received a petition
against Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose over the N2billion
Ecological Funds allocated to his state.
Some of the governors and their
predecessors allegedly used the funds for personal projects, political
campaign, augmentation of revenue allocation following drop in oil
prices, award of bogus projects to cronies for money laundering,
purchase of official vehicles, acquisition of choice properties.
A source in the EFCC said: “We are
looking into the management of Ecological Funds by some governors and
ex-governors but I cannot give you the details until we have completed
the investigation.
“We have received some petitions but it
is too early to make any disclosures. Only a former governor is standing
trial at present for alleged mismanagement of Ecological Funds and the
revelations in court are there for you.
“I know that the commission has been
receiving enquiries from some governors on whether we are looking into
the management of Ecological Funds. It is not within our mandate to
disclose what we are doing or who we are probing.”
A recent report by Ford Foundation in
conjunction with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting
said in part: “So unmindful was the government of the essence of setting
aside funds to deal with ecological problems that the state even
borrowed money from the Ecological Funds Office to finance shortfalls in
its appropriation. Between 2009 and 2011, the federal government
withdrew about N94 billion from the N141.5 billion that accrued to the
Fund to finance its budget deficit.
The Nigerian Air Force was in 2007 given
N10 billion from the Fund as loan, although it completely repaid it in
the same year, according to the report.
“Consequently, NEITI called for a comprehensive audit of the Fund from inception to date.
“Investigations across the country show
that the funds released for projects are characterized by
mismanagement, diversion of funds, substandard and abandoned projects
fully paid for while the threats of ecological problems continue to
wreak havoc, sometimes taking lives.
“In many cases, projects costing
billions of naira were certified completed by government engineers and
other officials when, as investigations showed, the projects had either
been abandoned or left uncompleted. Yet, money had been fully paid to
the contractor, indicating a possible collusion between greedy and
unpatriotic officials and contractors.
Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, and Gombe –
several projects that were listed by the EFO as completed and fully paid
for were in reality either uncompleted or shoddily done while some
could not be located, meaning that they probably do not exist.
“Baraza and Kardam in Bauchi State
villagers were shocked to hear that their villages benefitted from over
N400 million contracts for the construction of erosion control projects
in 2007. The contract, valued at N442,379,368, was awarded to Anbeez
Services Limited and was expected to be completed in 2008. It was for
four villages, Baraza, Kardam and Bazil in Dass Local Government Area
and Rimin Zayam in Toro Local Government Area.
In 1985, the Federal Government
established an Inter-Ministerial Committee (the National Committee on
Ecological problems (NCEP) with the responsibility of advising the
President on the disbursement and management of the Ecological Funds.
In 1999, the Obasanjo administration re-organised and expanded the NCEP and made Minister for Special Duties its chairman
In December 2006, it was reorganised,
bringing slight modifications to the membership of NCEP due to
re-alignment of federal ministries. Minister of the Environment was then
made its chairman.
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