The Attorney General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, and the Minister of Environment, Amina
Mohammed, are currently engaged in battle over the control of the Ecological
Fund.
A bill proposed by Mr. Malami putting the
management of the Fund under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of
the Federation is opposed by Mrs. Mohammed who is demanding that it should be
placed under her ministry.
The Fund is currently managed by the
Presidency.
Ecological Fund, an intervention facility set
aside to tackle the multifarious ecological problems ravaging communities
across the country, is currently under the Presidency.
Such problems include soil erosion, drought,
desertification, oil spillage, pollution, general environmental pollution,
storm, tornadoes, bush fire, large scale livestock and crop epidemic, crop
pest, landslide and earthquakes.
The Fund was originally set up in 1981
through Federation Account Act (1981). It was later modified by Decrees 36 of
1984 and 106 of 1992, respectively and further modified through the Allocation
of Revenue/Federation Account (modification) order of July 8, 2002.
The Fund, which is drawn on first line
charge, receives two per cent of accruals to the Federation Account.
Chapter A15 (5) (4) of the Allocation of
Revenue (Federation Account etc) Act says,
"An amount equivalent to two per cent of the Federation
Account shall be paid into a fund to be administered by an Agency to be set up
for that purpose for the amelioration of general ecological problem in any part
of Nigeria, in accordance with directives as may be issued from time to time by
the National Assembly."
Between 2007 and 2015, the Fund got an
average of N48,055,829,613 yearly as ecological fund. A total of
N432,502,466,521 accrued to the Fund during the nine years.
The proposed bill is entitled,
"A Bill for an Act to Establish the Ecological Fund
Management Authority to administer and Solve Ecological Problems in Nigeria;
and for Other Related Matters."
The objectives of the 14-page draft bill as
provided in Part 1 Section 1 are:
- To provide a legal framework for the
administration of the two percent allocations received from the Federation
Account pursuant to the Allocation of Revenue (Federation, etc) Act Cap A15 LFN
2004; and
- The two percent dedicated as Ecological Fund
referred to in subsection 1 of this section or such other percentage of the
monies in the Federation Account as may be allocated to the Ecological Fund by
the National Assembly shall be administered as provided under this Act.
In Part 11 entitled, "Establishment of the Ecological Fund management Authority,"
(3), the bill seeks to move the Fund to the Office of the SGF.
It says in Section 3 (1), "There is established
under the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation a fund to
be known as Ecological Fund (in this Act referred to as "the Fund).
Section Four describes the proposed
Ecological Fund Management Authority as (a) a body corporate with perpetual
succession and a common seal; (b) may sue and be sued in its corporate name;
(c) may require, hold or dispose of any property, movable or immovable.
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