Lawmakers are turning up the heat on the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACRESAL) project, demanding to see how every kobo has been spent — and whether promises made to Nigerians are being kept.
The House of Representatives Committee on Environment has called for greater transparency and accountability from the National Coordinator of the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACRESAL), Abduhamid Umar.
At a session held in Abuja on Thursday, the Committee, chaired by Rep. Mike Etaba, directed Umar to immediately submit details of counterpart funding for the World Bank–assisted project. The Committee also requested comprehensive project plans and lists of sites to enable members effectively track progress during their oversight visits.
Rep. Etaba stressed that the committee’s demand was not a witch-hunt but part of its constitutional duty to ensure that public funds are properly utilized.
“We are working for Nigerians. Every kobo spent on any project must be seen to be worth it,” he said. “ACRESAL is a specialist intervention, and we want to make sure it’s delivering on its mandate. We also need to be sure that the National Coordinator is spending money according to approved specifications.”
Etaba explained that the Committee would be scrutinizing ACRESAL’s records to ensure strict compliance with due process and project guidelines.
The ACRESAL initiative, supported by the World Bank, is designed to tackle land degradation and address the impacts of climate change across northern Nigeria, with a focus on improving livelihoods in semi-arid communities.
According to the Head, Media, House Committee on Environment, Hooks Oko, the lawmakers emphasized that transparency and measurable impact remain the benchmarks by which all intervention projects will be judged.
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