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Nigerian govt excited as it finally secures N287.65bn World Bank loan

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Buhari’s Minister begs court for more time to account for spendings on water projects

The Federal Government has revealed that it had secured a $700 million (N287.65bn) loan from the World Bank to help with specific water projects in the country.

Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, made the disclosure while speaking to journalists in Abuja during the Ministry’s award ceremony.

However, he said the Federal Government’s job in the area of water supply was to provide support for states.

According to Adamu, seven states, comprising Imo, Delta, Bauchi, Ekiti, Katsina, Kaduna and Plateau are expected to benefit from the first tier of the $700 million loan.

Admitting that lack of access to portable water had been a major problem for Nigerian communities.

The minister said, “what Nigerians need to understand is that federal government is not responsible for providing water in their taps, that is the responsibility of state governments and that is why we don’t have a federal Water board.

READ ALSO: DMO debunks reports of national assets being mortgaged over Chinese loans

“We are just trying hard to support them (states). All the incentives like P-WASH (Plan – Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Action Plan, declaration of state of emergency by the president are efforts and many more are efforts by the Federal Government to push the states to invest more in water.

“The people are not in the Federal Government. They are in the states. The states are primarily responsible for providing water for the people. If they don’t invest, what can we do? We have drawn the policies, we have done so many things. We are the first to even put a budget line to support state governments for water supply.

Adamu in his communication also expressed confidence that the National Water Resources Bill currently before the National Assembly, which had generated controversies would be passed in 2022.

“It will be passed in 2022. At this point, the budget is the most important thing. The national assembly is already engrossed in dealing with the 2022 budget. I can assure you that after the budget, their attention will go back to it and we hope that it will be passed in 2022,” the minister stated.

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