The House of Representatives have grilled the Director General of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall, Yusuf Maina Bukar over alleged expenditure of N81 billion for tree planting for the period of eight years.
The Ad-hoc Committee on Utilisation of Ecological Funds and other intervention funds into the Great Green Wall Project, at an investigative hearing, on Wednesday, said documents at its disposal indicated that N81 billion was spent on planting of 21 million trees in 11 frontline states in the North East and North West geopolitical zone,
The panel which pointed that the States include Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Yobe and Borno, also queried the expenditure of N697.17 million on renovation of office accommodation, N11.28 billion on capital projects, amongst other alleged infractions.
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Adebayo Balogun, a member of the panel, while raising eyebrow over the expenditure had requested for proper briefing from the agency.
Dabo Ismaila Haruna, Committee Chairman, in his ruling, directed the agency to re-appear before the panel next week, with evidence of its expenditure, including the statement of all the bank accounts of the agency.
Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abass, while declaring the investigative hearing open, said the parliament was poised to unravel all the challenges militating against the implementation of the Great Green Wall Programme in the country.
Abass, represented by Dickson Takir, stated that the importance of the Great Green Wall project cannot be over-emphasised, especially against the backdrop or security challenges confronting the country.
