N60bn erosion control project: Rights group drags NEWMAP to Appeal Court

The suit seeking the probe of abandoned erosion control projects in different communities in Enugu State is now before the Court of Appeal.

DAILY POST recalls that the Federal High Court in Enugu had, in its judgment, declined to order the Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management Project, NEWMAP, and the Federal Ministry of Environment to make public details of the projects awarded for erosion control in five Enugu communities.

Justice M. T. Segun-Bello, who delivered the judgment, said NEWMAP was a non-juristic person.
A civil rights group, G.A.L Initiative, acting in the interest of the communities, had approached the court, alleging that N60 billion meant for the projects had been diverted.

The affected communities are Onuiyi Gully, Aloruno Gully, Imilike Etiti Gully and Anyazuru Ohom Orba, all in the Enugu North Senatorial Zone of Enugu State.

The spokesperson for G.A.L Initiative, Mr Zekeri Idris Mohammed, has now confirmed that an appeal has been lodged at the Enugu Division of the Court of Appeal.

“We have instructed our lawyer to proceed with the appeal, which he did, and Appeal No. CA/E/127/2027 is now pending for hearing.

“The judgment of the Federal High Court, Enugu, shows that a project body or agency of the government can receive billions of naira for a project and embezzle it on the grounds that it is a non-juristic person.

“All eyes are now on the Court of Appeal, Enugu, for justice,” Mohammed said.

He recalled that the organisation had applied for the release of certified true copies of the contract documents for the projects in respect of the sums of money collected by the agency at its Enugu State Project Office between 2015 and 2023. He said both the agency and the Federal Ministry refused to release them.

This, according to him, necessitated a suit at the Federal High Court in Enugu, seeking an order directing the two bodies to release the CTCs of the contract documents.

“It is disappointing that the Federal High Court 2, Enugu, presided over by Hon. Justice M. T. Segun-Bello, dismissed the applicant’s case on the basis that the Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP EIB), which was a Federal Government project management body that collected the huge sums of money from the World Bank-sponsored project through the Federal Ministry of Environment, its superior, is not a juristic person and cannot be sued, while the beneficiary communities are left to suffer from the terrible erosion menace,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, when contacted, the lead lawyer to the appellant, Barr C.I. Odo was, however, optimistic that confidence that “the Appeal Court will right the wrong by ordering the release of the CTC of the public documents to use.”

He added that the case was of public interest.