Adamu calls for dispassionate examination of water bill

Insists bill won’t usurp state powers over lands
In light of the negative perceptions against the Water Resource bill, the Minister of Water Resource, Sulieman Adamu, has implored Nigerians to carefully peruse the proposed bill before the National Assembly not to be misled.

Adamu made the call at a media parley with journalists in Abuja, on Tuesday, to clarify certain misconceptions about the bill.

He insisted that there is no provision in the bill that will usurp the powers of the state government over lands as had been negatively speculated in some quarters.

The minister regretted that while they were yearning for better water delivery services in the country, some unpatriotic citizens are antagonising government’s efforts in attempting to improve the situation through the bill introduction.

Adamu said those opposing the passage are unpatriotic and do not mean well for the country.

He explained that the poor water service delivery in the state were as a results of the inability of state government to properly fund water sector and therefore regretted that while international partners are interested in investing in water sector in Nigeria, they are being driven away as result of a non-legal framework to work with.

He said it was important to note that the bill was initiated by his predecessor and was only fine-tuned by his administration in line with international best practices.

Adamu while reeling out the benefits of the bill regretted that unpatriotic some Nigerians introduced a sectional and divisional angle to debates on the bill, which he said, was a disservice to Nigeria.

He said: “There is no provision in the bill that allows the Federal Government to take over land from any community, not even an inch of land has been paddled by some group,” he stated.