Minister seeks more time to account for water projects’ funds

The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, has told the Federal High Court in Lagos to give his ministry more time to compile and furnish the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project with information on the spending on water projects.

He stated this in court in his reply to the Freedom of Information suit filed in April by SERAP requesting him and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, to explain why millions of Nigerians had to resort to drinking water from contaminated sources despite claims to have spent trillions of naira of budgetary allocations on the sector since 1999.

Adamu said: “It is not true that millions of Nigerians are drinking water from contaminated sources. It is not the duties of the Ministry of Water Resources alone to provide drinking water for the citizens.”

Adamu through a counter-affidavit dated 7 September 2018 and sworn to by Kwushue Abolaji, a legal officer at the ministry, said, “The delay in furnishing SERAP with the requested information is not deliberate. The information will soon be ready and it will be forwarded to SERAP without further delay. We humbly urge the court to grant us more time within which to do this.”

The written address signed by M.C. Mbam, counsel to the minister, read in part: “The inability of the Ministry of Water Resources to furnish the information is not deliberate rather it was because of the enormity of the materials required which could not be collated easily because more than one department is involved.

“Under the rules of this court, the judge may as often as he deems fit and either before or after the expiration of the time appointed by the rules extend or adjourn the time for doing any act or taking any proceedings.”