Retired Air Vice Marshal Akugbe Iyamu, a former Acting Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has questioned the management of Nigeria’s Ecological Fund and the use of funds allocated for anticipatory action as the country continues to grapple with flooding and other ecological challenges.

Iyamu made the remarks during an interview on Arise News while discussing flooding, disaster preparedness, climate change and Nigeria’s response to environmental emergencies.

He called for a reset of the purpose and management of the Ecological Fund, arguing that the fund should be specifically deployed to address ecological problems rather than treated as part of the regular financial allocation to states.

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“We have to reset what the Ecological Fund is meant for. As enshrined in the Constitution, Section 20 of the Nigerian Constitution states clearly what the ecology looks like. It is not pocket money for states,” Iyamu said.

He also questioned the use of funds allocated for anticipatory action, asking, “You have 83.2 billion, what are you using it for? Nigerians Do Not Deserve This’

The former NEMA chief said Nigeria should have taken preventive measures before flooding reached the scale currently being witnessed.

“This is not what Nigerian citizens deserve. There was time to have prepared for all this,” he said.

According to Iyamu, countries facing flood threats deploy barriers and other preventive measures before water reaches a critical level.

“That’s why I told you the Anticipatory Action Taskforce. You have 83.2 billion, what are you using it for?” he added.

Responding question whether corruption, inefficiency or a lack of concern by state governments and emergency agencies was responsible for the situation, Iyamu said transparency and accountability must be established alongside any bureaucratic structure created to manage disaster funds.

“If you are creating a space, a space of bureaucracy, you must first of all create transparency, then create accountability,” he said.

He questioned how funds allocated to an Anticipatory Action Taskforce would be monitored, as well as how the Ecological Fund would be tracked.

Iyamu said there was a tendency for sub-national governments to regard funds received as part of their normal state allocation instead of treating them separately for ecological interventions.

“If you give the money, the sub-nationals believe that, okay, this money is part of the state allocation, and they don’t separate it. Meanwhile, the downpour is getting more,” he said.

Iyamu Raises Alarm Over Abuja Flooding
Speaking specifically about Abuja, Iyamu said the destruction caused by flooding had reached a point he described as irreversible.

“Take the case of Abuja here, you saw what is happening. The Abuja case is irreversible, there’s nothing you are going to do about it again,” he said.

When asked to clarify his statement, he explained that Abuja was designed as a purpose-built city and argued that changes to its original drainage infrastructure had contributed to flooding.

According to Iyamu, Kenzo Tange, whom he identified as one of the designers of Abuja, had envisaged a city that would not experience flooding because of its drainage and relief-line design.

He said the relief lines were originally about 100 metres wide but had been reduced in some areas to about 20 metres or even 10 metres.
“How are you not going to have flooding?What Are We Doing?’ Iyamu Questions Nigeria’s Climate Response

Iyamu also discussed the international Loss and Damage Fund, saying the global approach to climate-related disasters had moved beyond simply providing humanitarian relief.

“Before, if you have flooding, they come and give you humanitarian blankets and all these things. They now say no, Loss and Damage Fund,” he said.

He said countries had fought for the establishment of the fund and claimed that 199 countries had filed to receive money from it.

He cited Nepal as an example, saying the country had filed to receive $20 million from the fund.

“What are we doing?” Iyamu asked.

The former NEMA official also criticised what he described as dependence on monthly allocations from the national revenue pool.

“Because this monthly share of national cake has made everybody very lazy,” he said.

Iyamu’s comments come amid continued concerns over flooding, disaster preparedness, drainage infrastructure and the management of funds intended to address ecological and climate-related challenges across Nigeria.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has signed the Appropriation (Amendment) (No. 4) Bill, 2025, into law, extending the implementation period of the 2025 budget from September 30 to December 31, 2026.

The development was confirmed in a statement issued on Wednesday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.

According to the statement, the presidential assent followed the passage of the amendment by both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday, September 29, 2026.

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The extension gives Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) additional time to complete ongoing capital projects and utilise funds already appropriated.

The Presidency said the move would ensure that funds already approved in the 2025 budget are fully put to work without disrupting critical government programmes.

The National Assembly had approved the extension after lawmakers considered the need to provide additional time for the implementation of capital projects under the 2025 Appropriation Act.

The Senate had described the extension as necessary to prevent the abandonment of ongoing projects and allow outstanding obligations relating to projects to be addressed.

With the President’s assent, the 2025 budget implementation deadline is now formally extended to December 31, 2026.

President Tinubu commended the leadership and members of the National Assembly for what he described as their prompt consideration of the amendment.

He said the development further demonstrated cooperation between the Executive and Legislative arms of government in the service of the country.

The latest extension marks another adjustment to the implementation timeline of the 2025 capital budget, which had previously been extended from its original deadline to March 31, June 30 and subsequently September 30, 2026.

The Federal Government has begun discussions with electricity distribution companies (DisCos) on plans to establish dedicated energy zones that could provide 24-hour electricity supply to homes, businesses and industries in major demand centres across Nigeria.

The initiative was discussed during a closed-door meeting between the Minister of Power, Joseph Tegbe, and representatives of selected electricity distribution companies and other power-sector stakeholders on Wednesday.

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Under the proposed arrangement, the government is targeting six major locations across three key electricity corridors: the Lagos axis, the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano corridor, and the Enugu-Port Harcourt corridor.

The proposed zones are intended to concentrate efforts on areas where reliable electricity is considered critical to manufacturing, commercial activities and other productive sectors.

Tegbe said the challenge facing Nigeria’s power sector goes beyond electricity generation and transmission, noting that distribution companies must also be able to take up available electricity and deliver it effectively to consumers.

“The constraint on the sector is not limited to generation and transmission but includes how much power is taken up and delivered at the distribution end,” the minister said.

According to him, the proposed energy zones are expected to help address gaps at the distribution end of the electricity value chain, while also supporting increased commercial and industrial demand.

The minister said the initiative could improve the revenue and collection performance of DisCos as more reliable electricity becomes available to productive users.

He also said the Federal Government would continue expanding electricity infrastructure in areas with high demand, stressing that electricity supply capacity must increase alongside the needs of the economy.

Representatives of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, Ikeja Electric, Eko Power, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company and Sahara Energy Group were among those reported to have attended the meeting.

However, the government has not announced a specific implementation date, the amount of electricity expected to be supplied to the proposed zones or the infrastructure investment required to achieve round-the-clock supply.

The plan comes as businesses and households continue to face concerns over the reliability of electricity supply and the ability of DisCos to efficiently distribute available power.