During an investigation by the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee into the usage of Ecological Funds and other intervention funds for the Great Green Wall Project, the National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW) claimed to have spent N81bn to plant 21 million trees in the northern frontline states of Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Yobe, and Borno.
However, the committee questioned the validity of these claims. The Director-General of NAGGW, Yusuf Maina Bukar, also revealed that the agency spent N697.71m on office renovation and N11.28bn on capital projects.
Bukar mentioned that the agency’s primary sources of funding were 15% of the Ecological Funds, federal allocation, and other sources to support its operations.
During the hearing, the committee questioned the Central Bank of Nigeria about seven accounts held in their institution. The CBN submitted a six-page document dated August 22nd, 2023, which revealed that N9,465,960,382.57 had been held in the agency’s account since 2015.
The Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, was represented by Deputy Director Irene Nwangwu and shared that the NAGWW had received N19,377,726,506.95 from the Derivation & Ecology Accounts since February 2019. Furthermore, the agency had also received N11.023bn as capital expenditure through the oAGF.
Nwangwu mentioned that former President Muhammadu Buhari had authorized the release of N2.309bn to the agency as a 2020 statutory 5% Ecological Fund.
During the hearing, the chairman of the committee, Isma’ila Haruna Dabo, and its members expressed concerns about the NAGGW’s expenditure and lack of corresponding results.
The committee also said the agency deviated from its core mandate.
He said, “Projects such as the Great Green Wall under investigation here were designed primarily to address some of these issues.
The persistence of these challenges despite funds put into the programme from both the federal government and international partners has necessitated this investigation.
