Nigerian Govt Excited as it Finally Secures N287.6bn Loan after Months of Negotiation with World Bank
- The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced it has secured a $700 million(N287 billion) World Bank loan
- The financing will be used to address the scarcity of portable water in six states throughout the country.
- Nigeria has been in talks with the World Bank about funding for the P-WASH (Plan – Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) Action Plan.
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The Federal Government has revealed that $700 million (N287.65bn) loan from the World Bank to help with specific water projects in the country has been secured.
Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, made the disclosure while speaking to journalists in Abuja during the Ministry’s award ceremony the Guardian reports.
According to Adamu, seven states, comprising Imo, Delta, Bauchi, Ekiti, Katsina, Kaduna and Plateau are expected to benefit from the first tier of the loan.
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What he is saying
Legit.ng gathers that the lack of access to portable water had been a major problem for Nigerian communities.
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However, Adamu noted that the Federal Government’s role is to support states, which he said have the lion’s share of the responsibility for water supply Nation reports
The minister said:
“What Nigerians need to understand is that federal government is not responsible for providing water in their taps, that is the responsibility of state governments and that is why we don’t have a federal Water board.
“We are just trying hard to support them (states). All the incentives like P-WASH (Plan – Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Action Plan, declaration of state of emergency by the president are efforts and many more are efforts by the Federal Government to push the states to invest more in water.
“The people are not in the Federal Government. They are in the states. The states are primarily responsible for providing water for the people. If they don’t invest, what can we do? We have drawn the policies, we have done so many things. We are the first to even put a budget line to support state governments for water supply.
Water bill what next?
Adamu in his communication also expressed confidence that the National Water Resources Bill currently before the National Assembly, which had generated controversies would be passed in 2022.
The minister stated.
“It will be passed in 2022. At this point, the budget is the most important thing. The national assembly is already engrossed in dealing with the 2022 budget. I can assure you that after the budget, their attention will go back to it and we hope that it will be passed in 2022.”
Railway, satellite lead list of 15 projects Nigeria agreed N2.50trn loan with China
Legit.ng had earlier reported that the Debt Management Office (DMO) announced Nigeria's overall public debt has risen to N38 trillion as of September 30, 2021.
The loan from China is one area many Nigerians are interested in amid stories of assets being seized from nations unable to repay their debt.
DMO has now released a thorough analysis of loans received from China in the last 13 years, including how much has been returned and for what projects the funds were obtained
Source: Legit.ng
