The Corporate Accountability for Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has urged the national assembly to stop the national water resources bill from being reintroduced in the parliament.
The controversial bill was reintroduced in the house of representatives in June by Sada Soli, a lawmaker from Katsina state.
Soli is the chairman of the house committee on water resources.
The proposed legislation seeks to establish an act that would provide a regulatory framework for the nation’s water resources.
The bill dates back to the eighth national assembly when it was first sent to the parliament by the executive.
It was passed in 2020 by the lower parliament but was later withdrawn following public outrage that trailed the decision of the green chamber.
However, in a statement issued on Tuesday, CAPPA faulted the reintroduction of the bill, saying the contentious issues in the proposed legislation were not addressed before it was re-presented.
“Contentious sections of the earlier version of the Bill included Section 98 which stated that, ‘the use of water shall be subject to licensing provisions’, Section 120 which made it compulsory for Nigerians to obtain a driller’s permit before sinking a borehole in their homes, and Section 107 which says, a licence might be cancelled if the licensee fails to make “beneficial” use of the water,” the statement reads.
“CAPPA questioned who determines beneficial use of water. Some of the identified problematic provisions in the previous Bill are still recycled in the ‘revised’ version.
“If it becomes law, it will empower the Federal Government to control all water resources in the country such as rivers, streams, lakes, and underground water in all parts of the country. It also makes a strong case for the much-discredited Public Private Partnership (PPP) water privatisation model.”
According to CAPPA, if the bill is allowed to scale through, it will “worsen the availability, accessibility, and affordability of water resources by common citizens”.
“A dysfunctional consequence of this Bill is the establishment of a new Federal Government Commission, Institute and Boards to take over the responsibilities of the States on water resources within the territorial jurisdiction, which is their States, which runs contrary to the spirit of true federalism,” the organisation said.
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