By Tunde Olamilekan
A group, Coalition of Concerned Nigerian Citizens, has rejected a new policy by the Osun State government, which requires that individuals and companies must pay a sum of N50,000 before drilling boreholes in the state.
However, the state government said the fee was agreed with the state Association of Water Well Drilling Rig Owners and Practitioners.
Addressing journalists in Osogbo, the state capital, on Monday, the group spokesperson, Rauf Sodiq, said it was unfair for a state government to expect individuals to pay for a permit to access a basic necessity like water.
Sodiq noted that the potential permit fee of ₦50,000 per borehole is exorbitant and will further exacerbate the financial burden on citizens.
Sodiq said: “For instance, in Osun State, over 70% of households rely on boreholes as their primary source of water due to the inadequacy of government-provided water supply and improper provision of the agency that provides water.
“The policy is extortionate and burdensome, requiring individuals and companies to pay for a permit to drill boreholes, which is a basic necessity.
”The government has failed to provide adequate and accessible clean water to the public, leading to individuals taking matters into their own hands. This policy will only worsen the situation, as individuals will be forced to bear the cost of accessing water which is unfair and anti-masses policy.”
Reacting, the state Commissioner for Water Resources, Sunday Oroniyi, said AWDROP has dissociated itself from the group, adding that the state government was only trying to regulate borehole drilling, which he said has become rampant in Osun.
He said: “Borehole drilling is becoming rampant…so Water Regulatory Commission has the role to go and take the water for testing before consumption.
“Before we imposed the fee, I invited the AWDROP members to my office this year, they expressed their views, and after that, they all agreed to pay it. When the petition came, I sent it to them to know whether it emanated from them and they denied. I wonder why some people will use that for political gain.”
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