FG secures $700m World Bank loan for water projects

•Says National Water Resources Bill will be passed in 2022
Federal Government said it has secured a $700 million loan from the World Bank for specific water projects in the country.

Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, disclosed this, yesterday, while speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the maiden Rewards and Recognition Awards ceremony organised by the ministry in Abuja.

The event was put together to celebrate and motivate employees in the ministry who had distinguished themselves in the course of duty.

Seven states comprising Imo, Delta, Bauchi, Ekiti, Katsina, Kaduna and Plateau are expected to benefit from the first tier of the loan.

Admitting lack of access to potable water has been a major problem for Nigerian communities, the minister said: “What Nigerians need to understand is that the 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.

“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 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.”