Data from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation reveals that Nigerian States received a total of ₦128.7 billion in Ecological Funds between December 2023 and February 2025, a 15-month period. The Ecological Fund is designated to help Federal, State, and Local Governments address environmental and ecological challenges, particularly flooding.
Despite these allocations, flood-related casualties continue to rise. On Monday, Hussaini Ibrahim, Acting Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), confirmed to MJConcept TV News that the death toll in Niger State alone had climbed to 153.
A breakdown of monthly disbursements shows:
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- February 2025: ₦6.036 billion to States, ₦5.030 billion to Local Governments
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- January 2025: ₦4.8 billion to States, ₦4.052 billion to Local Governments
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- December 2024: ₦6.7 billion to States, ₦5.6 billion to Local Governments
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- November 2024: ₦4.607 billion to States, ₦3.839 billion to Local Governments
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- October 2024: ₦4.654 billion to States, ₦3.878 billion to Local Governments
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- September 2024: ₦3.998 billion to States, ₦3.332 billion to Local Governments
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- August 2024: ₦4.659 billion to States, ₦3.882 billion to Local Governments
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- July 2024: ₦5.177 billion to States, ₦4.314 billion to Local Governments
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- June 2024: ₦4.018 billion to States, ₦3.348 billion to Local Governments
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- May 2024: ₦4.342 billion to States, ₦3.618 billion to Local Governments
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- April 2024: ₦3.647 billion to States, ₦3.039 billion to Local Governments
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- March 2024: ₦3.906 billion to States, ₦3.255 billion to Local Governments
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- February 2024: ₦4.730 billion to States, ₦3.942 billion to Local Governments
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- January 2024: ₦4.269 billion to States, ₦3.558 billion to Local Governments
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- December 2023: ₦4.793 billion to States, ₦3.994 billion to Local Governments
The devastating floods in Mokwa, Niger State, in May 2025 underscored the country’s vulnerability to natural disasters and raised fresh questions about the effective use of the Ecological Fund.
UNICEF reported in 2022 that 2.5 million people in Nigeria required humanitarian assistance due to flooding, with 1.3 million displaced and over 600 lives lost. The agency noted that 34 of Nigeria’s 36 states were affected, with children accounting for 60% of those in need.
Concerns about the management and transparency of Ecological Fund spending have persisted. In 2022, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) urged then-President Muhammadu Buhari to mandate a full investigation into how the funds had been used across all levels of Government from 2001 to 2022.
With over 200 lives now reportedly lost and thousands displaced by the recent floods, the conversation around environmental governance, accountability, and disaster preparedness is more urgent than ever.