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From John Adams, Minna
Uneasy calm spreads across Niger State as both water scarcity and epileptic electricity supply have grounded both social and commercial activities in parts of the state.
The situation has put the majority of the residents, especially within the state capital, in an untold hardship, forcing many people to scoop water from all available sources, including unhygienic sources.
For the past two weeks, it has been a story of everybody to himself and God for all as the residents abandoned their daily activities in search of water.
While they struggled to cope with lack of electricity supply, the water scarcity has stretched the residents to their limit, no thanks to the Ramadan fast.
The state water and sanitation board and the Abuja electricity distribution company (AEDC), which has the franchise to distribute electricity in the state have remained silent over the situation.
It was gathered that though the state water board did not have the chemical for treatment of water, the situation has been complicated by lack of electricity supply to major water works across the state to pump water to residential houses.
It was learnt that the state government has not released the needed funds to the Water Board for it to buy water treatment chemicals since the beginning of the financial year, even after the stock left in the store had been used.
However, over N3 billion was said to have been budgeted for the water sector in the 2025 and the 2026 appropriation, but only less than five percent of the budget had been accessed by the water board.
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Initially, the water board was engaged in skeletal services, purchasing credit at N6 million every other day to run its plants. The amount became unsustainable, especially when the AEDC stopped supplying electricity to most parts of the state.
As a result, the Board closed its activities for about two weeks now, forcing its workers to go on compulsory leave, and this resulted in water consumers seeking alternative sources of water for domestic and other usage.
Owners of boreholes who could use generators to pump water into their overhead tanks now sell water to water vendors at very high rates, while the vendors popularly referred to as (Mairuwa) sell each truck load of 10-litre Jerry cans at between N2,500 and N3,000, depending on the location of the town where they are operating.
In the last three weeks, the AEDC has been engaged in serious rationing of electricity across the state without offering any explanations.
Most consumers now go for between two and three days without getting electricity supply for one hour.Those on the 33kva are also not spared as they enjoy supply for only two or three hours daily.
Meanwhile, the state House of Assembly, yesterday, stepped down a motion on matter of urgent public importance brought before it by the member, representing Suleja, Murtala Badaru over the acute shortage of water and epileptic power supply across the state, which have crippled both the government and commercial activities in the state.
The decision to step down the motion was taken after an in-house deliberation between the author of motion and some key members of the house.
The Deputy Speaker, Affiniki Dauda (Gurara) who presided over the sitting said the decision to step down the motion was due to the ongoing efforts by the state governor, Umaru Mohammed Bago towards addressing the situation.
She said although the current situation affects everybody in the state including the house members, there was the need to allow the governor to intensify efforts so as to bring the situation under control and alleviate the sufferings of the people.
