‘FG’s N9.3bn Cooking Stove Grant, Dubious’

Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment & Ecology, Senator Bukola Saraki, has faulted the Federal Government’s N9.3bn intervention on the Clean Cook stoves initiative, describing it as misplacement of priority.
Saraki in a statement in Abuja stated that the funding of the Clean Cook stove from the Ecological fund without due process is a mockery of the Procurement Act and the Cook stove initiate.
He stressed the need to reverse the decision in view of the public concerns and criticisms by various stakeholders on the action.
He said the Ecological fund which is assumed to be the source of the fund was established to fight emergency ecological problems in Nigeria like flooding, erosion and other unforeseen natural disasters.
He said the fund should not be taken from the ecological fund but supposed to be funded through appropriations by the National Assembly.
Saraki, noted that an intervention of that financial magnitude should be driven in partnership with the private sector through various forms of Public – Private partnerships.
He expressed the fears that his integrity would be at stake when he attends the next Leadership Council meeting and he is asked to make a presentation on how the N9.3bn was used to create markets for clean cook stoves in Nigeria, because it is not a convincing strategy.
He lamented how it has been very difficult for his committee in the past to appropriate even N100m  for the same initiative due to insufficient Federal Government allocation for the environment sector.
He therefore argued that “for the presidency to now direct N9.3bn to be spent as sole source is questionable”
He said the global alliance for cook stoves was striving to create an enabling market for clean cook stoves and such fundamental best practice should be emulated for a sustainable clean cook stoves programme in Nigeria.