By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A committee has been set up and directed to launch an investigation into the Ecological Fund, which has depleted to N33.6 billion.
The panel consists the Governors of Akwa Ibom, Benue, Borno, Kaduna, Imo and Oyo States, including the Ministers of Environment and Finance.
At the National Economic Council (NEC) held in Abuja on Thursday, the council expressed shock that the amount in the fund account seems to have dropped despite not having any state to have benefitted from it in the last two years. This necessitated an audit into the account.
At the meeting presided over by the Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, the council said for a couple of months, the balance in the Ecological Fund has remained N33.6 billion as at March 31, 2017, according to the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Ahmed Idris.
Speaking with State House correspondent after the meeting, Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State disclosed that the probe is to know what has happened to the funds in the last two years.
“In the last two years, no state has received anything from the Ecological Fund despite applying for it. That’s why the Governors decided to audit it to know what exactly the problem is and recommend how to manage the fund,” Mr Lalong told journalists.
Adedapo Adesanya