By Disu Amosun
Never in the history of Bill Processing in the Federal House of Representatives since the commencement of Nigeria’s 4th Republic (1999) had a opy of a bill going through the legislative rungs been so shrouded in secrecy and away from interested parties’ reach, as the water Resources Bill.
It took efforts and ploys for a copy of the draft bill to be sighted by the Nigerian Pilot Newspaper, as the document, which was reintroduced into the 9th Assembly by the chairman of the House Committee on Water Resource Rep Sada Soli (APC, Katsina) as a private member’s bill Wednesday June 29 2022 was so hard to come by through virtually every known means by interested parties to get hold of a copy, to the extent that only lawmakers presented at allotted days for the bill’s debate are supplied with draft copies at plenary instead of well in advance to enable them prepare their contributions well in advance as is usually the case.
The National Water Resources Bill as espoused by Rep Sada Soli on the day it was reintroduced on the floor of the House, following its sound rejection by the 8th Assembly, seeks to establish a regulatory framework for trans boundary water resources in Nigeria, provide for and sustainable use of water development, management, use and conservation of Niger’s interstate surface water and underground water resources and for related matters 2022.
Innocent and straight forward as the intent of the bill may appear, there had always been suspicions on the part of critical stakeholders, including state governors, when the bill was initially introduced into the House in 2017, with fears that there are more to it than it intended, going by the sweeping powers given to the minister of water resources in the final execution of law if the bill is eventually passed and assented to.
Recent development by the federal government taking on responsibilities hitherto the exclusive preserves of state authorities such as the management of water resources to n and around States territories and the crises occasioned control over water heads by farmers and herders made many states that have experienced the brunt to be suspicious of the true intent of the bill with affected governors led by Ortom of Benue instructing lawmakers from the state to put up stiff resistance to the passage of the Water Resources Bill and in addition lobby their colleagues by warning them of the dangers inherent in okaying the piece of legislation.
Findings revealed that stakeholders’ apprehension over what now appears to be on ‘controversial’ water resources bill recently reintoduced in the House of Representatives, if eventually passed into law, the federal government shall have the power to control all the resources found in the waters across the country.
The power however is vested on the minister of the water resources who will weild it on behalf of the federal government.
A draft copy of the bill detailed the powers and functions of the minister in section 10(1) as “It shall be the duty of the Minister to promote the development, conservation, and management of inter-state water resources throughout Nigeria and to ensure the effective exercise of powers and performance of duties by institutions and persons identified under this Bill and in the constitution.”
Similarly subsection 2 and 3 of the bill also stated that “The Minister shall have the power to make regulations, policies and strategies for the proper carrying out of the provisions of this Bill and functioning of the Ministry in accordance with this Bill as well as in accordance with other directives he may receive from the President and any guidance from the Council.
“The Minister shall have and exercise reasonable powers as are necessary and required in furtherance of the duties and functions conferred pursuant to this Bill, the directives of the President, or any other Law.”
Under sections 11,12,13 and 14 of the bill, the minister also has the power to establish a Committee to coordinate any international agreement entered into by Federal Republic of Nigeria and any international body or organisation relating to investigating, managing, monitoring, and protecting water resources.
Such sweeping powers to the government at the centre to control water resources hitherto enjoyed by regional or state authorities, coupled with the proposed law’s likely effects on insecurity, occasioned by herders/farmers deadly clashes all over the nation swells suspicion among stakeholders.
Similarly the bill seeks to empower the minister to, in consultation with the Federal Executive Council, by notice in the Gazette, establish a Committee to coordinate implementation of any international agreement entered into by the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a foreign government or any other international body or organisation relating to:
(a) Investigating, managing, monitoring, and protecting water resources.
“(b) Regional co-operation on water resources;
“(c) acquiring, constructing, altering, operating or maintaining a
Waterworks connected to such agreement; or (d) the allocation, use and supply of water according to the principles of equitable and reasonable utilization and avoidance of significant trans-boundary harm.
“(2) The Minister shall consult with all affected States prior to entering into any international agreement on a river basin.
“13. (1) For the purpose of this Bill, the functions of the Minister shall be: (a) to formulate national Policy and water resources Management strategy to guide the integrated planning, management, development, use and conservation of the nation’s water resources and provide guidance for formulation of hydrological area resources strategies under section 94 of this Bill;
“(b) The Policy and Strategy referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be based on basin strategies developed by the Commission, recommendations of the National Council on Water Resources and all other institutions in the water resources sector in consultations with other stakeholders;
“(c) To provide guidance for policy and standards for water supply and sanitation towards promoting uniform technical and service’ standards and infrastructure development across the country;
“(d) To facilitate the periodic review and update national water legislation to ensure consistency with national policy under paragraphs (a) and (c) of this sub section;
“(e) To undertake planning for implementation of Sector Policies,
Strategies and Master Plans, and in consultation with the Commission, to provide general guidance to relevant Sector institutions on achievement of the objectives;
“(f) based on the performance of existing irrigation systems and considerations of relevant National and basin Policy and strategy on irrigation, as well as economic efficiency and social development, provide guidance to the Authorities responsible for irrigation management and development on criteria to govern decisions on investments for future development of irrigation Programs;
“(g) To provide guidance to institutions in the sector in formulating development plans and projects;
“(h) To monitor the level of service provision for water supply and sanitation across Nigeria with a view to providing and disseminating data for planning, socio-economic development, investments, as well as infrastructure distribution to both Federal and state Governments, National water Council and other Stakeholders;
“(i) To provide technical support for the survey, investigation, planning and design of water resources projects with input from relevant Professional institutions;
“(j) To implement development projects of a multi-purpose nature, and for flood management, that are outside the mandate of individual service delivery Agencies but in collaboration with relevant sector Agencies;
“(k) To support, monitor and evaluate programmes and institutions in the sector;
“(l) To provide technical guidance to the National Council on Water Resources and its committees;
(m) To liaise with donors and supervise donor and government
funded projects;
(n) to promote all aspects of public-private partnerships in the development of water resources infrastructure;
“(o) To prepare and submit an annual report to the National Assembly
within 90 days of the end of each financial year that monitors and evaluates the quantitative and qualitative status of the nation’s water resources and report on the Ministry’s commitments related to water resources development and service delivery;
“(p) To represent the Federation in international conferences, meetings
and, negotiations on matters related to water;
“(q) In consultation with relevant Sector institutions, State Government, and Ministries, Departments and Agencies responsible for environment, climate change, health, agriculture, natural disaster management and rural development.identify areas which, in accordance with the laws of the Federation and Nigeria’s international obligations, to be designated as protected areas by the Commission and collaborate with the Commission to achieve this;
“(r) To undertake such activities and issue such directives as shall be expedient subject to due notification to appropriate Agencies to remediate emergency situations that may threaten any water course within the country.
“(s) To receive the reports of the National Council on Water Resources and implement such decisions as they affect the duties of the Minister as identified in such reports.
“(2) The Minister shall perform such other functions, as are provided in this Bill as well as any other functions as may be directed by the President.
(3) The Minister may delegate any of his functions in writing to any person, body, institution, agency or authority for the purpose of performing those functions in accordance with this Bill.
“14. -(1) The Minister may make Regulations as is expedient for the purpose of giving full effect to the provisions as it relates to PART III of this Bill.
Experts and various Diaspora Groups have expressed grave concerns over the reintroduction of the controversial National Water Resources bill which seeks to take over all inter-state rivers, hydrological territories across the country, which scale through Second Reading on the floor of the House of Representatives before it embarked on the current annual recess.
Stakeholders argued that the proposed legislation contravenes the provisions of Article 47 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICCPR), Articles 10, 20, 26 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as well as Article 25 International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
It will be recalled that the bill which was initially introduced in the 7th and 8th Assemblies was rejected in response to public outcry of the implications of passing the proposed legislation.
The Bill which was re-introduced in the 9th Assembly via a motion to revisit the 11 bills including the controversial National Water Resources bill but was withdrawn sequel to series of protest by notable House members as well as 36 State Governors under the aegis of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and other stakeholders across the country.
The 36 State Governors had on the 17th September, 2020 expressed the need for holistic review of the controversial National Water Resources Bill, 2020 which allegedly seeks to erode the powers of Subnational governments on control of water resources in the country.
The Governors also underscored the need for the review of other relevant laws including the River Basins Development Authorities Act 2004; the Natural Water Resources Act 2004; and the Nigeria Hydrological Resources Act 2004 will be reviewed by their Attorneys General and Executive Councils of States after which a common position of States will be presented to Water Resources.
Clause 2(1) of the newly reintroduced bill stipulates that the right to the use, management and control of all surface water and ground water affecting more than one State pursuant to item 64 of the Exclusive Legislative List in Part 1 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 Billis vested in the Government of the Federation to be exercised in accordance with the provisions of this Bill.
Clause 2(2) provides that: States may make provisions for the use, management and control of water resources occurring solely within the boundaries of the State in line with regulations and guidelines made pursuant to this Bill on policy and principles of Integrated Water Resources management.
Clause 3(1) provides that: “a person may, without a licence: take water from a water source to which the public has free access for the use of his household or for watering domestic livestock; use water for the purposes of subsistence fishing or for navigation to the extent that such use is not inconsistent with this Bill or any other existing law; where a statutory or customary right of occupancy to any land exists, take or use water without charge from the underground water source, or if abutting the bank of any watercourse, from that water course, for reasonable household use, watering livestock and for personal irrigation not for commercial purposes; or store and use runoff water from a roof .
In the First Schedule of the bill the Designated Water Bodies as affecting more than one State include: all inter-state water, whether surface or underground, from time to time contained within or flowing or percolating through such sources, and the tributaries and catchment areas thereof. These include: River Niger from the border between Nigeria and Niger Republic to the outlet of the Kainji reservoir, including- Sokoto Rima River from the border with the Federal Republic of Nigeria; all the tributaries of the River Niger crossing the border to the Benin Republic and Sokoto sedimentary (western) hydro-geological area.
Others are: River Niger from the outlet of the Kainji reservoir to the point of confluence of the River Niger and the Benue River, including Kaduna River with the tributaries; Gurara River; all the tributaries of the River Niger crossing to the Benin Republic; and the upper Niger sedimentary (Niger) areo-geological area; Benue River from the border between the Federal, Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Cameroon to the point of confluence of the Benue River and the River Niger.
The above water belt included Gongola River; Pai-yul River; Wase River; Shemankar River; Dep River; Mada River; all the tributaries of the Benue crossing the international border to the Republic of Cameroon, and Benue sedimentary (Benue) hydro-geological area.
