Lingering controversies over Nigeria’s National Water Resources Bill, initially forwarded to the National Assembly in April 2017 to implement the Nigeria Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Program-for-Results (SURWASH Programme) have stalled the release of the $700 million loan from the World Bank, documents from the multilateral development finance institution have indicated.
The failure of the National Assembly to pass the controversial water bill over the past eight years, has denied the country access to further release of funds from the loan aimed at enhancing water, sanitation, and hygiene services nationwide.
Available documents on the disbursement of the loan to Nigeria so far, showed that only about 12% of the loan, totalling $80.35 million hadbeen disbursed while the outstanding balance of $577.33 million is awaiting the fulfilment of certain conditions tied to the loan project.
Specifically, a document from the World Bank on the status of the loan clarified: “The push to get the water bill passed by the National Assembly (NASS) before the political transition which happened in May 2023 did not materialize.
“This may result in a delay in establishing the National WASH fund as it is part of the proposed water bill. DLI 1 under the SURWASH Program is related to the National WASH Fund, so disbursements will be impacted.
“The Ministry plans to review and present again to the new National Assembly the bill after holding stakeholder consultative fora across the country”, the World Bank added,
It would be recalled that the SURWASH Programme which was approved on May 25, 2021, and the implementation is scheduled to end by June 30, 2027, was initiated with a development objective of expanding access to water and sanitation services in the country with the attendant implications for fortifying sector institutions.
Despite the project’s promises, with Programme Year 2 results submitted on January 13, 2024, and currently under review by an Independent Verification Agent, the delay by the National Assembly to pass the Bill is seen by experts as the stumbling block to achieving the objectives.
The execution of the SURWASH Programme is tied to some specific Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) one of which is the establishment of the National WASH Fund (DLI1) as provided for in the draft bill.
Despite sailing through the House of Representatives several times over the past few years, the bill has consistently encountered challenges in the Senate due to some of its controversial provisions, including Section 2(1), Clause 13, Sections 98 and 104, among others,
