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Fred Itua, Abuja
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, yesterday, said the upper legislative chamber will soon revisit the controversial Water Resources Bill.
The Bill was passed in the House of Representatives last year, but suffered defeat in the Senate.
Making the announcement, Lawan said the Bill was rejected because the then Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, misled Nigerians on the intentions of the documents.
Lawan said the two arms will work together to ensure that a Water Resource Bill is brought to regulate that sector.
When the Bill came for a second reading in May of 2018, lawmakers were divided along regional lines. Southern lawmakers then accused President Muhammadu Buhari-led government of plans to take over the management and control of water resources across the country.
The Senate was at the verge of passing the Executive Bill from President Buhari into law when trouble started. It was Saraki’s first Bill to the Senate.
It was tagged “A Bill for an Act to establish a regulatory framework for the water resources sector in Nigeria, provide for the equitable and sustainable development, management, use and conservation of Nigeria’s surface water and ground water resources and for related matters.”
Akpabio, who resisted the move then, said the Bill was an attempt by the Federal Government to take over the management and control of resources domiciled in different rivers across the country. He said if the Bill was passed into law, it was going to further reduce the powers of state governments and vest more powers on the Federal Government.
