From Kemi Yesufu, Abuja

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating massive deforestation and alleged corruption in the management of the environment and its effects on climate change, yesterday, resolved to summon the management of the National Ecological Fund over the implementation of the N9.3 billion clean cooking stove project. 

To this end, chairman of the committee, Bede Eke,  directed that a letter of  summons be immediately sent to the Ecological Fund Office and the Department of Deforestation and Desertification in the Federal Ministry of Environment, as the two departments jointly worked on the implementation of the project. 

Eke also demanded for the list, addresses and details of the amount paid to each of the contractors engaged by the forestry department of the ministry to implement the tree planting intervention by the Federal Government  across 24 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory.

The lawmaker, who queried the documents submitted by the acting director of forestry, Michael Osakuade, asked why the minister of Environment, Ibrahim Jibrin, and the permanent secretary of the ministry failed to appear before the committee.

Osakuade had told the committee that the minister and the permanent secretary directed him to represent them at the hearing because they had made earlier appearances and didn’t have  new information to give. 

Eke demanded for an updated report on the amount spent so far on tree planting and details of the survival rate of trees planted since 2011.  

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The lawmakers also questioned the N200 million allegedly spent by the Department of Forestry on capacity building.

“There are issues with the implementation of these contracts, we have the auditor-general’s report, we have the ICPC’s report bordering on the activities of the ministry.

“For you to say there are no additional reports to give us means you are saying we should just pack up, and  when we write an indicting report, you would say you were not given fair hearing,” Eke said. 

Osakuade replied that the afforestation project ran into problems because of untimely release of funds, this as he apologised for the absence of minister and permanent secretary. 

He told the lawmakers that the National Council on Environment in 2011, resolved that each of the 24 states and FCT be allowed to engage  NGOs and Tree Planters to take over the seedlings procured by the Forestry department.

On the N9.3 billion cooking stove project, Osakuade who denied knowledge of how it was carried out, disclosed that the project was handled by the Ecological Fund.