President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration would ensure timely release of ecological funds to state governments to address pressing ecological challenges in their localities.
Speaking at the weekend on Hannu Ya Dawa, an audience participation programme on FRCN Kaduna, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba Shehu, said government would continue to assist flood victims across the country.
‘‘The Buhari administration will under no circumstance abandon its humanitarian obligations to alleviate the distress of flood victims.
‘‘In spite of Nigeria’s technological limitations and the paucity of funds to handle or manage large scale and complex emergencies, the APC administration will leave no stone unturned in offering succour to victims of natural disasters across the country,’’ he said.
Shehu said it is the right of citizens to demand the judicious use of the ecological funds which is distributed among the three tiers of government from the federation account.
‘‘The largest chunk of the Fund goes to the States and Local Governments. Every month, States and Local governments receive 1.4 per cent from the Federation account as Ecological Fund, compared to the Federal government’s share of 1 per cent. From the 1 per cent the FG gets, NEMA takes 20 per cent for its operation,’’ he said.
He said that lately, disaster management in the country is gradually being ceded to the federal government by other tiers of government.
‘‘Whenever there is an emergency from natural or man-made disasters, all you hear is ‘where is Buhari, what is he doing? What happens with the other tiers of government?
‘‘Nigerians, at the state and local governments, should demand transparency and accountability in the management of ecological funds by their Governors and local government chairmen.
‘‘Without accountability by local political leaders, the Federal government would continue to be the scapegoat for the failure of states and local governments to use ecological funds for the purposes they were released,’’ he said.
He said the Presidential Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation has also been mandated to step up the provision of relief infrastructure to those in need.
Garba Shehu also disclosed that the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) would deliver four million bags of 50kg Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK) fertilizer to farmers at an affordable price before the end of the year.
He said the 11 fertilizer blending plants in the country would be increased to 18 by the end of the year to provide direct employment to no fewer than 50,000 Nigerians.
Shehu said the projected delivery of the four million bags of fertilizer by December is in addition to the six million bags of 50kg fertilizers already sold to farmers since the Initiative commenced early this year.
‘‘The problem of the shortage of fertilizers and its attendant high cost plaguing the nation’s agricultural production, seemingly intractable for decades, have been resolved following the successful execution of the mandate of the PFI.
‘‘Since the implementation of the Initiative, the six million 50kg bags of NPK fertilizers were purchased by State governments and agro-dealers across the country,’’ he said.
He said the production of locally-blended fertilizer had saved the federal government about $150 million this year, hitherto spent on foreign exchange; and N60 billion in budgetary provisions for fertilizer subsidy.
He said the successful implementation of the PFI had made fertilizer available to Nigerian farmers at affordable prices and in time for the 2017 wet season farming.
The objective of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, which was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2016, is to procure the four constituent raw materials for Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium (NPK) fertilizer – locally-sourced Urea, locally-sourced Limestone granules (LSG), Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) imported from Morocco, and Muriate of Potash (MOP) sourced from Europe – and blend these locally to produce NPK Fertilizer at a much-reduced cost.
The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative is being executed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) through a Special Purpose Vehicle that will roll out the one million tonnes of NPK Fertilizer in five batches of 200,000 metric tonnes each.
