Opponents of the bill say Clauses Three, Four and Five are aimed at handing over ancestral lands belonging to farmers and giving permanent grazing rights to herdsmen, who will commence expansionist agenda into the hinterland.
According to them, when passed into law, the bill will invalidate the anti-open grazing laws passed in Benue, Ekiti and Taraba. They pointed out that this is an attempt by the Federal Government to introduce grazing colonies through the backdoor.
Lawmakers are set to resume consideration of the proposal which was stepped down by Senate President Bukola Saraki last week, following heated debates on the matter.
Although the bill failed to pass Third Reading at the Senate last week, Saraki set up an ad-hoc committee to fine-tune the controversial areas.
Clauses Four and Five of the bill provide that: “As the public trustee of the nation’s water resources, the Federal Government, acting through the minister and the institutions created in this Bill or pursuant to this Bill, shall ensure that the water resources of the nation are protected, used, developed, conserved, managed and controlled in a sustainable and equitable manner, for the benefit of all persons and in accordance with its constitutional mandate.
“States may make provisions for the management , use and control of water sources occurring solely within the boundaries of the state but shall be guided by the policy and principles of the Federal Government in relation to Integrated Water Resources Management, and this Bill”.
In a telephone interview with BusinessDay, an Abuja-based legal practitioner, Kayode Ajulo, threatened to challenge the upper legislative chamber in court should it pass the bill upon resumption.
According to Ajulo, the bill violates the Land Use Act, which vests all lands in state governors.
He said: “It is unconstitutional. It is flagrant violation of the constitution. They (senators) ought to have amended some provisions of the constitution (before considering the bill). So, there is no way they can do that without amending the constitution.
“It will be challenged. Personally I will challenge it before the court. You don’t have to wait until when somebody wants to kill your child before it becomes a crime. Police don’t need to allow you to commit crime before you are apprehended. We are going to go to court to apprehend the legislators. They won’t go on with that”.
Also in an interview with BusinessDay, human rights lawyer, Frank Tietie, expressed surprise that the Bill is coming at a time there are agitations across the country for devolution of powers to states.
Tietie, who is the Executive Director of Citizens Advocacy For Social and Economic Rights (CASER), therefore urged the Senate to jettison aspects of the proposal like Clause Three, which provides that the Federal Government will use, manage and control ‘all surface water and ground water affecting more than one state, pursuant to item 64 of the Exclusive Legislative List in Part 1 of the Second Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended’.
Tietie said: “We have seen spirited efforts by those who control the Federal Government to seek to destroy the concept of the Nigerian Federation. This is another example of that exercise.
“Whereas efforts are being made to reduce the items on the Exclusive Legislative List, controlling local rivers by certain policies or regulations by the Federal Government is actually going too far and speaks to concerns about the unitary nature of the Nigerian federalism, which is antithetical to development.
“That is the reason you find out that government appears too far away. So, a federating unit should control local resources in terms of mineral resources. But to now also consider that even water resources will be taken over technically, is going too far.
“Senators must stop this prevarication of taking away government from the locality and concentrating it on the centre where government does not work.
“It is a very sad commentary. And my message to the senators is that they must realise that they are saddled with the responsibility of devolution of powers, amending the constitution to devolve more powers to states and local governments.
“It is unthinkable that remote resources like water resources should now also be controlled by regulations and policy directions of the Federal Government. If they must go ahead with this Bill, then they must jettison this particular aspect that reduces the concept of federalism in Nigeria”.
Southern senators who opposed the bill last week ,included: Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio; Emmanuel Paulker, Adeola Olamilekan and Gbenga Ashafa.
They cautioned the Senate to be wary of promoting a legislation that would create more problems in the country, adding that the upper legislative chamber should always aim at enacting laws that would stand the test of time.
But lawmakers from the North who threw their weight behind the proposal included: Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan, Ubali Shittu, Binta Masi Garba and Ibrahim Gobir.
In their submissions, the proposed legislation only cover rivers that stretch across more than one state, insisting that they would be better managed by the Federal Government.
OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja
