Flooding has continued to ravage states despite the N39.62 billion ecological funds disbursed to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration from the Federation Account within the last one year, Daily Trust reports.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently revealed that the 36 states received the above sum as ecological fund disbursement from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) from June 2023 to June 2024.
This is aside from the N3 billion which Vice President Kashim Shettima last week said had been approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for each state of the federation to tackle all forms of natural disasters, including flooding.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had, last week, stated that since April this year, flooding had wreaked havoc in 29 states, killing 259 people and affecting over one million citizens.
Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, has been the worst-hit so far, with the collapse of the Alau Dam.
The Ecological Fund, established in 1981, is drawn from the federation account at a rate of two per cent, with the primary objective of assisting all the tiers of government in tackling ecological problems such as flooding, desertification, erosion, oil spills and drought.
The fund’s disbursement process is managed by the Ecological Fund Office in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
