Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, yesterday, said the country loses N7billion yearly to the non-passage of the Water Resources Bill.
The minister (represented by Magashi Bashir, Executive Director, National Integrated Water Resource Management Commission) made this known during a media parley at the commission’s office in Abuja.
He described the non-passage of the bill as a great setback to the nation’s economic growth. “Nigeria is losing about N6 billion to N9 billion yearly to the non-passage of the bill, which would have given legal teeth to the water sub-sector for optimal performance like other sectors,” he said.
He urged Nigerians to “advance beyond ethnicity and ethnic politics to better regulate the water sector. The nation stands to gain a lot if the sector is properly organised.”
He noted that most sectors in the country are being regularised but regretted that the water sector, which according to him is the most important, remains neglected.
He said even though all the grey areas of the bill have been expunged, some Nigeria were still viewing the document from an old standpoint.
He added that some of the persons campaigning against the content of the bill were doing so out of ignorance or mischief.
