Nwifuru did not spend N1.1bn on wildlife conservation, commissioner says

From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki

The Ebonyi State government has described as untrue reports on social media claiming it spent N1.1bn in nine months on wildlife conservation.

There were social media publications alleging that the state government allocated N1.1bn to wildlife conservation in nine months, which was reportedly less than the amounts spent on health and water provisions in its 2024 budget.

In a statement signed by the state Commissioner for Information and State Orientation, Jude Okpor, the government dismissed the reports, stating they fell short of investigative journalism standards.

Okpor clarified that the N1.1bn was an amount allocated for a contingency item, coded under “margin for increase in cost and wildlife conservation” in the approved budget.

“The publication is, to say the least, not well-researched and devoid of any iota of truth. The writer obviously failed to carry out adequate investigations necessary to authenticate his report.

“Without bearing any grudge or prejudice against the author of the publication, but in full understanding of his ignorance, we wish to clarify as follows:

“First, the amount N1.1bn recorded against wildlife conservation is an amount meant for a contingency item, which the approved budget has coded under MARGIN FOR INCREASE IN COST and not WILDLIFE CONSERVATION. If the author has seen it otherwise, it could probably have been a misplacement or typographic error. The author, who rightly asserted that there is no zoo in Ebonyi, should have resorted to the rightful authorities for clarification in line with the ethics of journalism.

“Secondly, we wish to clarify that the approved budget has a different template from the Quarterly Budget Implementation Report template. At the point of population of the quarterly report, which the said publication particularly referred to, the economic code was erroneously imputed. In the approved budget, which the state government spends from, the said amount is under the Contingency Fund.

“It should also be clarified that projects and programmes recorded under contingency are not initially envisaged but arise during budget implementation. There is no actual record in the state where such an amount, as reported by the media outlet, was spent on WILDLIFE CONSERVATION. That is an error in transmission.

“We therefore urge the general public, particularly those who may refer to such a document as advanced by the publication, to be guided. We assure that the error will be corrected to reflect the correct economic description when the state produces its Quarter 4 Budget Implementation Report, which will be made public in January 2025.

“We are ready and well-disposed to making a copy of an extract from the state’s approved budget available to any interested member of the public for reference purposes.

“Finally, it is important we use this medium to assure the people of Ebonyi State that the present administration, led by His Excellency Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, has remained faithful to its vow of accountability and prudence in the management of the state’s resources.

“The avalanche of developmental projects scattered across the state, covering all sectors, and the unprecedented level of human capital development and economic empowerment of citizens of the state on a regular basis bear eloquent testimonies to this administration’s commitment to ensuring that the people’s money works for them. It is also worthy of note that the implementation of our budget since the inception of this administration has been adjudged worthy by an internationally acclaimed budget tracking organisation (BUDGIT), ranking us highly—5th position on the fiscal transparency league table across the nation,” he said.