NEWS
Reps Begin Probe Of Agency Over Claims It Spent Eighty-One Billion Naira To Plant Trees In North
The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee has launched a thorough probe into the utilization of Ecological Funds and other intervention funds for the Great Green Wall Project.
The National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW) had told the Reps committee that it spent N81 billion to plant 21 million trees in eleven states in the Northern region of the country.
The said states include Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Yobe and Borno, Naija News learnt.
In his defence of the agency’s activities earlier, NAGGW Director-General, Yusuf Maina Bukar, reportedly informed the lawmakers that the agency also spent N697.71 million on renovation of office accommodation and N11.
28bn on capital projects.He claimed that the main funding of the agency was from 15 per cent of the Ecological Funds and the federal allocation as well as other sources for its operations.
However, the Reps committee is also scrutinizing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over seven accounts domiciled in the apex bank.
A six-page document dated 22nd August 2023 submitted by the CBN showed that N9,465,960,382.57 was domiciled in the agency’s account from 2015 to date.
The Accountant-General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, represented by Deputy Director, Irene Nwangwu, said the NAGGW had received a total of N19,377,726,506.95 from the Derivation & Ecology Accounts from February 2019 to date.
In addition, the agency also received N11.023bn as capital expenditure through the AGF.
Nwangwu said former President Muhammadu Buhari approved the release of N2.309bn to the agency as a 2020 statutory 5% Ecological Fund.
The chairman of the committee, Isma’ila Haruna Dabo and members complained that the NAGGW spent money without commensurate results.
The committee also said the agency deviated from its core mandate.
“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.
“In recent years, we have witnessed a significant upsurge in natural environmental challenges such as land degradation, deforestation, desertification and drought, which most times are explained away with the context of climate change,” Dabo said.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N510.92 million between July 15th and September 15th, 2024.The zone covers the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone and the five states in the Southeast geopolitical zone.
This is contained in a statement signed by Jerry Attah, Public Relations Officer, NCS, Zone C, and made available to journalists on Wednesday. According to the statement, Comptroller Michael Ugbagu, NCS, Zone C, gave the statistics while showcasing the seized contraband to relevant regulatory agencies at the Government Warehouse in Edo.Ugbagu said that the zone also recovered the sum of N25.57 million from demand notices raised based on some infractions noticed, making a cumulative sum of N536.49 million recorded within the months under review.“The DPV was derived from our seized goods, which include 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without an NAFDAC number.“1,015 sacks of dry donkey meat and skin, 75 jumbo bales of second-hand clothing, 463 cartons of foreign spaghetti, 269 pieces of used pneumatic tires, and 56 cartons of smuggled foreign tomato paste.“More worrisome is the interception of 49,699 sachets of various brands of tramadol and 3,350 bottles of various cough syrups with codeine without NAFDAC registration numbers.”He noted that the cough syrup with codeine and tramadol without NAFDAC registration numbers, if not intercepted, could have had adverse effects on youths.He added that the items were mostly intercepted along the Ewu-Okada/Benin expressways based on credible intelligence. (NAN)
The Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in Nigeria. Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga, the North-Central Chairman of the forum, said this in an interaction with newsmen on Wednesday in Jos. Zazzaga described some of the federal roads as ”death traps”, particularly those within the north-central region.
He said that some of the deplorable roads in the region include Jos-Akwanga, Makurdi-Oturkpo-Otukpa, Makurdi-Ankpa, and Jos-Saminaka. Other roads that needed urgent attention, he said, included Suleja-Minna, Ejule-Otukpa, Ganawuri-Manchok, Lokoja-Abuja, Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Birnin-Gwari-Bokani-Mokwa, Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora. ”Currently, the north-central region has the most deplorable roads and highways in the country. ”These deplorable roads have brought severe hardship on the people and lost lives and property through preventable road traffic crashes. ”We call on President Bola Tinubu to intervene and ensure the rehabilitation of these roads because good roads are vital enablers of development,” he said. The chairman also called on governors of states within the region to reconstruct the dilapidated roads and seek refunds from the federal government. ”Though these are largely federal roads, they are located within states, and the beneficiaries are the people of these states. ”So we call on state governments to reconstruct these roads and seek refunds from the federal government,” he added. (NAN
The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar on Wednesday.This is according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.In China’s spot foreigners exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by two per cent from the central parity rate each trading day.
The central parity rate of the yuan against the dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day. (Xinhua/NAN)
Customs Intercept Contraband Worth N510.92m in Two Conths
ShareThe Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operations Unit Zone C, says it intercepted contrabands with a Duty Paid Value (DPV)...
APC Forum Decries Deplorable Condition of Federal Roads
ShareThe Forum of Stakeholders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) has decried the deplorable condition of some federal roads in...
Court Shifts Judgment in Suit Seeking Ganduje’s Sack Until Sept. 23
ShareA Federal High Court, Abuja, on Wednesday, shifted the judgment in a suit seeking the removal of Dr Abdullahi Ganduje...
Yuan Strengthens 7. 087 Against Dollar
ShareThe central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 160 pips to 7.087 against the dollar...
Edo 2024: NSCDC Deploys 6,433 Personnel
Share The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has deployed 6,433 operatives to provide security ahead of the Edo...
Ex-Gov Yahaya Bello Honours EFCC’s Invitation
ShareFormer Governor of Kogi, Alhaji Yahaya Bello has honoured the invitation of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over...
Enugu LG polls: 4,145 Security Personnel to Be Deployed – ENSIEC
ShareThe Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) has said that no fewer than 4,145 security personnel would be involved in...
NNPC Ltd/TotalEnergies’ $550m Ubeta Upstream Gas Project Begins Operation – Aide
Share The 550 million dollars upstream gas project between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) and TotalEnergies on...
Kwara LG Poll: Court Allows KWSIEC to Proceeds with Process
ShareFrom Samuel James, Ilorin On the restraining order regards the releasing of the National Voter Register to the Kwara State...
Barau Receives Kano Gov’s Top Aide to APC
ShareBy Eze Okechukwu, Abuja The Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin has received a top aide of the Kano...