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Ministry complies with FOI request, reveals spending on water projects

By Bertram Nwannekanma
22 October 2018   |   3:32 am
The Ministry of Water Resources has complied with Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)’s request on Freedom of Information (FoI) by providing detailed information on its spending on water projects at the Federal High Court, Lagos. Consequently, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, disclosed at the weekend that it has spent billions of naira…

Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu

The Ministry of Water Resources has complied with Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)’s request on Freedom of Information (FoI) by providing detailed information on its spending on water projects at the Federal High Court, Lagos.

Consequently, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, disclosed at the weekend that it has spent billions of naira on 292 water projects across the country in the last seven years.

It presented documents on the 292 projects between 2010 and 2016 before the Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday, October 19, 2018.

SERAP had in a suit sought an order compelling the ministry to provide detailed information of monies spent on the projects following reports of acute water shortages across the country.

However, Adamu had in September asked the court to grant the ministry more time within which to compile and furnish SERAP with information on its spending on water and locations of such projects, in view of the high volume of the information involved.

But when the case up on Friday, the court asked the ministry’s lawyer why it had not provided information sought by SERAP to which the lawyer answered: “We have just furnished SERAP with the information they requested.”

The court commended the ministry and urged the Ministry of Agriculture to also give SERAP the information requested rather than going to court.

The cover letter with documents presented in court and signed on behalf of the ministry by Acting Director (Legal), P.C. Mbam, with reference number FMWR/LU/S/401, showed that N2 billion total project sum was allocated for small towns water supply and sanitation programme in Adamawa, Delta and Ekiti states.

Of the amount, N20.5 million was spent in 2011, N30 million in 2012; N150 million in 2013, N110 million in 2014, N11.7 million in 2015, while N60 million was spent in 2016.”

“The total project sum to construct the Otor-Iyede Water Scheme in Isoko North Local Council of Delta State was N489 million.

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