Tension as Buhari’s ministers clash
– The minister of environment, Amina Mohammed has opposed a bill proposed by the minister of justice, Malami, putting the management of the ecological fund under the office of the secretary to the government of the federation
– The ecological fund is currently under the management of the presidency
– Mohammed demands that the management of the fund be placed under her ministry
There is an ongoing battle between the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Abubakar Malami, and the minister of environment, Amina Mohammed over the control of the ecological fund.
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Mohammed has opposed a bill proposed by Malami putting the management of the fund under the office of the secretary to the government of the federation.
The minister of environment is demanding that the management of the fund be placed under her ministry.
The ecological fund, which is currently under the management of the presidency, is an intervention facility set aside to tackle the multifarious ecological problems ravaging communities across the country.
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.
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In 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.
In part 11 entitled establishment of the ecological fund management Authority, the bill seeks to move the fund to the office of the SGF.
In section 3 (1) the bill vests the management of the ecological fund under the office of the secretary to the government of the federation.
It states: “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).”
When the justice minister sent the proposed bill to President Muhammadu Buhari, who in turn asked for inputs from the environment minister and the SGF.
Both ministers were subsequently requested by the chief of staff to the president, Abba Kyari, in a letter dated June 20, to make inputs.
But in her reply to the COS’s letter, the environment minister said the management of the fund should be placed under her ministry instead of the office of the SGF as spelt out in section 3 of the draft bill.
Leadership reports that President Buhari gave the assurance at a joint press conference with the visiting president of Togo, Faure Gnassingbe at the presidential villa in Abuja on Tuesday, August 2.
He said that Nigeria had both the resources and the technical expertise to achieve the goal.
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