Despite receiving N5.8bn ecological funds in six months, northwestern states are not prepared for flooding-Report

By Aminu Abubakar

A SolaceBase review of budget performance documents has shown that Northwestern states are not ready to tackle the ravaging flooding that has claimed so many lives and destroyed properties worth billions of naira.

This development indicates how these states failed to spend any money to tackle erosion and flooding under the tag “erosion and flooding control”.

This is despite receiving N5 billion as ecological funds between September 2023 and February 2024 alone, based on FAAC allocation data prepared by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The review shows that in the six months period, Jigawa received N781 million, Kaduna got N915 million, Kano got N1.1 billion, Katsina receipt stood at N859 million, Kebbi was N737 million, Sokoto N770.1 million while Zamfara received N695 million.

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Data reviewed from the budget performance document shows that Jigawa state plans to spend N1.8 billion on erosion and flooding control in 2024, however as of the first six months of the year, it spent zero naira.

This is despite the fact that in the first two months of 2024 alone (January and February), the state received N264 million as ecological funds.

Kano state also spent zero naira in the first six months of 2024 on erosion and flooding control, despite receiving N375 million as ecological funds in January and February of the year alone.

Sokoto spent N71.5 million on flooding and erosion control in the first six months of 2024, despite receiving N261 million in the first two months of 2024 alone.

This development is not peculiar to Northwestern states alone.

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Data review shows that Gombe received N658 million as an ecological fund, Benue N783 million, Bauchi N835 million, Adamawa N696 million.

There have been repeated calls for accountability in the management of ecological funds, especially with repeated impacts of flooding.

In 2024 alone, more than 205 persons have lost their lives to flooding while another 225,169 persons have been displaced.

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Of the affected states with displaced persons,  Zamfara recorded 75,000, Sokoto had 74,000, Kano 19,000, Kebbi 4,000 per details released from the National Emergency Management Authority.

Kano recorded 25 deaths, Zamfara 13, Sokoto 10.