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The national water resources bill has passed first reading at the house of representatives.
The bill is sponsored by Sada Soli, an All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker from Katsina state.
The proposed law seeks to establish an act that would provide a regulatory framework for Nigeria’s water resources sector.
The bill dates back to the eighth national assembly when it was first sent to the parliament by the executive.
After the bill was read for the first time during plenary on Wednesday, Mark Gbillah and John Dyegh — both Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers — kicked against the proposed legislation.
Gbillah, a lawmaker from Benue, raised a point of order questioning why the bill is being reintroduced.
He said,“I am aware that the matter listed for first reading — the national water resources bill — generated a lot of controversy within this honourable house and even across the country and some of us wonder why this issue is still being re-presented on the floor of the house, because some of us are not comfortably in support of this bill in the first instance.”
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In response, Gbajabiamila said he raised the same question with Soli, chairman of the committee on water resources.
The speaker said he was informed that governors made input and that the concerns raised may have been addressed.
The Speaker said,“I asked the chairman the same thing this morning and he told me that the issues of controversy that were raised then have been addressed by all the governors.
“Apparently, it is a new bill that all the governors of the federation, both south and north, participated in this bill and I want to take him by his word.
“I believe that you raised a very cogent point. We live in a very diverse country and everybody’s sensitivity must be taken into consideration. It is subject to the participation of all the governors, because they govern their states they know what affects them and what doesn’t affect them.”
