SERAP Asks Tinubu To Probe Spending Of Billions Of Naira Ecological Funds By Borno Govt

LAGOS – The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President Bola Tinu­bu to direct the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), and appropriate anti-cor­ruption agencies to promptly in­vestigate the spending of billions of naira of Ecological Fund col­lected by Borno State since 2001, including the N816 million collect­ed by the state between January 2024 and June 2024.

SERAP said, “Suspected per­petrators of allegations of cor­ruption and mismanagement of ecological funds should face pros­ecution as appropriate, if there is sufficient admissible evidence, and any proceeds of corruption should be fully recovered.”

 The organisation also urged him to direct Mr. Fagbemi and ap­propriate anti-corruption agencies to urgently identify and ensure access to justice and effective rem­edies to affected victims in Borno State.

SERAP urged him to direct Mr. George Akume, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, to work with appropriate anti-corrup­tion agencies to track and monitor the spending of Ecological Fund by the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, 36 state governors, the 774 local government areas, as well as all emergency management agen­cies across the country funded through the Ecological Fund.

In the letter dated September 21, 2024 and signed by SERAP dep­uty director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation said: “Your gov­ernment has a legal obligation to address the prevalence of flooding across the country and its effect on people, and to ensure that the mon­ey meant to stop the floods is not lost to corruption.

“There is a legitimate public interest in ensuring justice for the victims of Borno’s flood vic­tims, and accountability for the spending of the monthly ecolog­ical funds collected by the state through the Federation Account Allocation Committee [FAAC].

“Although ecological funds are shared across the three tiers of government, and emergency management agencies, the funds are managed and supervised by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

“The devastation in Borno highlights your government’s obligation to promote and ensure transparency and accountability in the spending of ecological funds by all tiers of government and emergency management agencies.

“SERAP notes that Borno State receives millions of naira monthly through the Federation Account Allocation Committee as shares from the Ecological Fund.

“Other states and the Feder­al Capital Territory, Abuja, also monthly receive funds from the Ecological Fund. According to re­ports, trillions of naira have over the years been budgeted through the Ecological Fund to tackle floods and other ecological problems.

“SERAP is concerned that the ecological funds collected by Bor­no State over the years may have been diverted, mismanaged or unaccounted.

“SERAP is also concerned about reports that the funds re­leased to the states for ecological projects are characterised by mis­management, diversion of funds, substandard and abandoned proj­ects fully paid for.

“Ecological funds have also been allegedly spent for other pur­poses such as election campaigns and political patronage.

“We would be grateful if the recommended measures are tak­en within seven days of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall consider ap­propriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.

“Your government has legal obligations to ensure protection of the rights of flood victims in Bor­no and elsewhere in the country, including the obligation to ensure they receive adequate food, shelter, safe drinking water, access to sani­tation and other basic aid.

“Your government must use all means available to it to prevent and address the threats to human rights that result from climate change and to provide access to remedies when these rights are violated.

“According to reports, the re­cent floods in Borno started when a dam [the Alau Dam in Maidugu­ri] burst its walls following heavy rainfall. More than 30 people have reportedly been killed by the floods.

“About one million people have been affected, most of whom are housed in camps without food and clean water. The According to the National Emergency Manage­ment Agency (NEMA), 229 people have been killed by floods in Nige­ria since the start of the year. The worst flooding in recent times killed 600 people in 2022.

“According to a four-year au­dit of the Ecological Fund Office carried out by the Nigeria Ex­tractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, the total amount allocated and received by the fund from December 2011 to November 2016 was N277 billion.

“The operations of the Fund from 2012 to 2016 reportedly showed that some of the dis­bursements were not utilised for the purpose for which it was es­tablished. During these periods, N74,170,932,645.20 was released to state governments to solve ecolog­ical problems in their states.

“SERAP notes that the Eco­logical Fund was established in 1981 to respond to and address serious ecological problems such as soil erosion, flooding, drought, desertification, oil spillage, gener­al environmental pollution, and related issues, as well as prevent suffering and possible death from these natural disasters.

“As the floods in Borno State have shown, the lack of transpar­ency and accountability in the management of ecological funds by states and the resulting human costs directly threaten fundamen­tal human rights – rights to life, to food, to a place to live and work – rights that your government has an obligation to protect.

“Nigerian constitution 1999 [as amended] and the human rights and anti-corruption treaties to which the country is a state party impose obligations on your govern­ment to probe and prosecute allega­tions of corruption in the spending of Ecological Fund, and to ensure access to justice and effective rem­edies for victims of flooding.

“Corruption and mismanage­ment of the fund have caused neg­ative human health impacts, and rendered already impoverished citizens incapable of satisfying their minimum needs for survival.

“The failure of successive governments and high-ranking government officials to prevent corruption in the spending of Eco­logical Fund has hugely contribut­ed to the inability of authorities at all levels to address ecological chal­lenges, and the impact of flooding across the country.

“We note that while a governor may enjoy immunity from arrest and prosecution, he does not enjoy immunity from investigation. Any criminal allegation against a sit­ting governor can and should be investigated pending the time the governor leaves office and loses immunity.

“The findings of such an inves­tigation can also be the basis for ini­tiating impeachment proceedings against the governor.”