Fadekemi Ajakaiye
The Chairman, Senate committee on Environment, Senator Oluremi Tinubu has advised the Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) on judicious use of funds.
The Chairman, Senate committee on Environment gave the advice recently when the Senate committee visited the Council as part of the Senate oversight functions.
According to Senator Oluremi Tinubu, their visit was not to force anything on the Council, rather their visit was just to see that money allocated to the Council was put to good use for the Nigerian people.
Also, speaking at the meeting, the Co-Chairman of the Senate committee on Environment, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi stated that their visit was to strengthen the Agency by way of collaboration between the National Assembly and the Council, adding that they were in the Council to interface with them and to know their impediments and how the National Assembly could be of help to the Council.
The senator, advised the Council to double its effort on the collection of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), saying “it is a way of assisting government having not to provide for every cost effect, be it Capital or recurrent expenditure.”
Earlier, the Registrar of the Council, Sanitarian Dominic Abonyi commended the effort of the government, adding that the Council had enjoyed government attention more now than ever before.
The Registrar, however, used the opportunity to commend the National Assembly for being able to amend the Act setting them up, saying as Oliver twist, he would want to plead with the government and the National Assembly to approve more funds for the Council to enable the Council recruit more Staff particularly Environmental Health Officers in order to tackle myriads of Environmental Health and Sanitation problems in the Country.
On the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), the Registrar informed the Committee that one of the Critical things the Council does is to accredit Schools, give them assessment and qualify them to train Environmental Health Professionals in Nigeria while they pay token for accreditation.
The Registrar, hinted the Committee that “the Council’s Act is such that we could not take anybody to court without passing through the Office of the Attorney-General,” adding that the Council could not also get Fiat to prosecute until last year when a lawyer was posted to the Council which now made it possible for the Council to commence litigations.
