Governors insist Water Bill fails to address the concerns of states
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
All 36 state Governors have reiterated unanimous opposition to the National Water Resources Bill in the National Assembly (NASS), arguing it is unconstitutional, states were not carried along in drafting it, and does not fully address their concerns.
The Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) said in a communique issued at the end of its meeting that the bill is not consistent with the Constitution.
“On the reintroduction of the National Water Resources Bill, Governors argued that the bill does not adequately address the interests of the states and is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The bill, according to the forum, should be reviewed with a view to accommodating the concerns of all states,” said the communique, signed NGF Chairman and Ekiti Governor Kayode Fayemi.
The bill seeks to concentrate the control of water resources around Rivers Niger and Benue, which cut across 19 states, in the hands of the federal government.
It also seeks to empower the federal government to take over water resources from states, and licence the supply and commercialisation of surface and underground water – which riverine states consider an assault.
States affected by the bill are Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Edo, Delta, Kwara, Kogi, Benue, Anambra, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Taraba, Nasarawa, Niger, Imo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Plateau, and Kebbi.
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North, South divided over bill
The bill is the subject of a rumoured impeachment move against House of Representatives Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, who is currently on course at Harvard University, United States.
The Senate had rejected the bill in 2018 because of its unpopularity across the country, per reporting by The Guardian.
The bill, as introduced in the eight and current NASS, seeks to empower the federal government to control all water resources, such as rivers, streams, lakes, and underground water.
Northern Senators, mostly APC Senators and Muslims, support the bill and its objectives; but Southern Senators, mostly Christians, are strongly against it.
Opponents say if the bill is passed into law, it would hinder moves towards devolution of power to states.
Governors support World Bank LPRES
Governors, however, resolved to spearhead the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (LPRES), a six-year $500 million World Bank programme designed to improve the productivity, commercialisation, and resilience of targeted livestock production systems in Nigeria, per Vanguard.
The Governors said Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed briefed them on the draft 2023-2025 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP).
The briefing is part of consultation on federal fiscal policy and on sharing macroeconomic and fiscal assumptions to help states prepare their Economic and Fiscal Update (EFU), FSP, and Budget Policy Statement (BPS).
“Following the presentation, Governors had a robust discussion with priority given to the government’s response to the fallouts of the Russia-Ukraine war, including inflation and the rising food and nutrition crises, the continued impact of the PMS subsidy on the fiscal headroom of governments, implications of NNPC’s new transition on federation revenues, as well as the widening divergence between the official and parallel market rate of the dollar on the local currency, the communique said.
“On health, the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, addressed the forum on available Global Fund support to state governments, designed to revamp Primary Healthcare Centres, State Healthcare Centres, Ambulance Services and Drug Management Support in states. Members resolved to work with the Federal Ministry of Health to actualise this initiative.’’
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