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NORTH Vs SOUTH: Senators clash over Buhari’s Water Bill

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A Bill to have control of water resources concentrated in the hands of the Federal Government on Thursday caused a sharp division in the Senate between senators from the South and their counterparts from the North.

Senators from the South are opposed to the bill on the argument that if passed into law it would further centralise power and the nation’s resources, and this would counter the current power devolution efforts, which is currently skewed in favour of the Federal Government

But their colleagues from the North who are in support of the bill and its objectives, countered their arguments, stating that the Bill only seeks to take control of water bodies passing through states.

The bill which was first sent to the lawmakers by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2017, was presented by the Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan, as it is customary for executive bills.

It seeks 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 bill reads in summary, “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.”

If passed into law it will “provide for the regulation, equitable and sustainable development, management, use and conservation of Nigeria’s surface water and groundwater resources.”

During the consideration of report on the bill by the Senate Committee on Water Resources, southern senators had criticised the move to create new Federal Government bodies to take over the responsibilities of the states over the water resources within their territories.

Clauses 1 to 5 of the bill caused the major disagreement among senators of the two regions.

They read: “All surface water and groundwater wherever it occurs is a resource common to all people, the use of which is subject to statutory control.

“There shall be no private ownership of water but the right to use water in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

“The right to the use, management and control of all surface water and groundwater affecting more than one state pursuant to Item 64 of the Exclusive Legislative list in Part l of the Second Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, and as set out in the First Schedule to this Act, together with the beds and banks, is vested in the Government of the Federation to be exercised in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

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“As the public trustee of the nation’s water resources, the Federal Government, acting through the minister and the institutions created in this Act or pursuant to this Act, shall ensure that the water resources of the nation are protected, used, developed, conserved, managed and controlled in a sustainable and equitable manner, for the benefit of all persons and in accordance with its constitutional mandate.

“States may make provisions for the management, use and control of water sources occurring solely within the boundaries of the state but shall be guided by the policy and principles of the Federal Government in relation to Integrated Water Resources Management, and this Act,” the clauses read.

Senate President Bukola Saraki had said, “This bill has 152 clauses. This bill is the Leader’s first bill. This bill is the President’s bill, so we are going to have a very swift movement in passing this bill.”

Different from the usual process of taking the clauses one after the other, the Senate President put Clauses 1 to 50 to a voice vote at once.

Responding Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (APC, Kebbi-North) however raised an issue with one of the clauses, asking the Senate to properly define ‘bank’ especially where it starts from and the distance it should be from a water body to the shore.

Abdullahi, who said that he was not opposed to the bill, however pointed that the clarification was needed for rivers that cross two or more states, comparing it to a federal road which makes the government to acquire 50 metres from the centre of the road on both sides.

Abdullahi was asked not to entertain fear by Senator Barnabas Gemade, (APC, Benue North-West), who said that while the nature of the road was fixed, a river could increase or decrease in size.

The first southern senator to oppose the bill was the Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio (PDP, Akwa Ibom North-West), who raised issues against Clause 3, warning against making a law that would lead to the Federal Government taking over the landed areas of riverine communities, especially communities where the water bodies dry off.

“When they dry off, they become residential. So, it will cause a lot of confusion. We really need to be careful,” he said.

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Among other arguments, Akpabio cited the case of Lake Chad which used to have over 25,000 kilometres of water but had dried up to about 5,000 kilometres. He said it meant that the community now had 20,000 kilometres for farming and other activities, stressing that it would have been out of the reach of the people if the government had possessed the bank.

Other senators from the South who opposed the bill were Emmanuel Paulker (PDP, Bayelsa-Central); Gbenga Ashafa (APC, Lagos-East) and Solomon Adeola (APC, Lagos-West).

Earlier, the Majority Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe-North), had countered Akpabio, stating that the lawmaker was arguing in error. He pointed that the clause Akpabio referred to was in reference to waters like River Benue and River Niger which flow through several states.

He therefore called on the Senate to ignore the issues raised by those opposed to the bill. According to him, the Federal Government is not interested in water within a state.

 

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