Water resources bill dead in Senate – Anyanwu

An executive bill sent to the Senate last year seeking to concentrate the control of water resources under the Federal Government has died a natural death in the red chamber.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public petitions, Senator Sam Anyanwu, stated this in an interview on Sunday.

Anyanwu said the fact that the controversial bill was rejected by the majority of the senators when it was brought was an indication that the legislation was unpopular and had since died a natural death.

He said, “Nobody is talking of that bill again. We have moved on beyond that. It can never see the light of the day. It has died a natural death. In fact, it was dead on arrival.”

Northern senators had supported the bill and its objectives when it was presented at the chamber in May 2018 while their southern counterparts were opposed to it.

Those opposed to it pointed out that the bill, if passed into law, would further centralise power and the nation’s resources. This, they pointed out, would counter the current move towards devolution of powers.

President Muhammadu Buhari had sent the bill to the Legislature in 2017, and the Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, presented it as it was customary for executive bills.

It is, “A Bill for An Act to Establish a Regulatory Framework for the Water Resources Sector in Nigeria, Provide for the Equitable and Sustainable Redevelopment, Management, Use and Conservation of Nigeria’s Surface Water and Groundwater Resources and for Related Matter.”

The summary of the bill reads, “This Act repeals the Water Resources Act, Cap W2 LFN 2004; River Basin Development Act Cap R9 LFN 2004; Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (Establishment) Act, Cap N110A, LFN, 2004; NationaI Water Resources lnstitute Act Cap N83 LFN 2004; and establishes the National Council on Water Resources, Nigeria Water Resources Regulatory Commission, River Basin Development Authorities, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, and the National Water Resources Institute.”

The proposed bodies, if established, will “provide for the regulation, equitable and sustainable development, management, use and conservation of Nigeria’s surface water and groundwater resources.”

The division on the bill occurred at the plenary on Thursday, May 24 2018, when the lawmakers considered the report on the bill by the Senate Committee on Water Resources.

The southern senators particularly criticised the move to create new Federal Government bodies to take over the responsibilities of the states on the water resources within their territories.