Minister: FG working to ensure water resources bill is approved this year

Suleiman Adamu, minister of water resources, says efforts are ongoing to ensure that the water resources bill is passed in 2022.

Adamu spoke on Thursday while featuring on ‘Good Morning Nigeria’, a Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) programme.

In 2020, Nigerians had expressed reservations over the bill on the grounds that certain provisions of the proposed legislation will give the federal government undue control over water resources.

In August 2021, the minister had said the controversy generated over the bill was caused by “deliberate misinformation”.

Speaking on the latest development regarding the bill, Adamu said the proposed law is important to solve the problems of water supply across the country.

“We have explained all that we need to explain and the national assembly is fully aware because we have engaged them. They have seen all the merits and all the issues that have been put on the public domain have been debunked as false and misleading,” he said.

“We have engaged with the governors’ forum and several groups. After all said and done, we invited legal consultants that are experts in environmental law within the country and we gave them the bill to review and they told us there is nothing wrong with the bill.

“We also sent it back to the attorney-general. We asked him to look at the issues again and advise us. And the advice had come, so, we are gathering everything and sending it back to the national assembly.

“We proposed certain changes basically in terms of semantics and all the issues that the major stakeholders have been concerned about have been addressed, and I believe that this year, this bill will be passed.”