Water Scarcity: Group Calls for Sack of Kogi Commissioner

Ibrahim Oyewale, Lokoja

Worried by the acute shortage of water supply in Lokoja and its environs, the Executive Director,  Conscience for Human Rights and Conflicts Resolution (CHRCR)  Idris Miliki, has called for the immediate sack of the State Commissioner for Water Resources, Mr Abdulmumini  Danga for his inability to tackle the challenge.

Miliki made this  call in a press statement, where he  lambasted the state government for lack of potable water.

The statement said: “Water they say is live, that is a popular saying everywhere you go, rich or poor, you need water. Making water available to citizens is moral, religious and constitutional reasonability of any government, state or federal.

The rights activist explained that it is ridiculous and unbelievable, despite the location of River Niger and Benue in Lokoja the state headquarters, water has become an issue.

“A government that fails to provide water for its citizens cannot prove to have provided adequate welfare for the people that brought them into power.

“Since the flood that ravaged Kogi State and Lokoja in particular in 2022, which is more than three months now. The people of Lokoja have not enjoyed the water, which is one of the basic responsibilities of any government at all levels.

“Despite the billions of naira used to establish the current water facility by the previous government. The current government has failed to extend the water to various communities and could not even maintain it and make it available to the people that brought it into power.

No single senatorial district can boost of water provided by Kogi State Government and yet we suffer yearly floods.

“We call for the immediate removal of the Commissioner of Water Resources in Kogi State, as he has failed in the basic responsibility to make water available to the people of Kogi State.

“Water is everywhere in Lokoja, and there is none to drink as people suffer daily looking for water to drink, as the government put in place fails to provide water for them. We wonder how much it will take to maintain the water facility that we have and make it available for people.”

The gigantic water works project was executed under the leadership of former Governor Alhaji Ibrahim Idris between 2009 and 2010 with over N16 billion and other assistance from the World Bank and the African Development Bank.

Reacting to the calls for his removal from office, the State Commissioner for Water Resources Abdulmumini Danga told journalists that the shortage supply of potable water was a result of the recent flood disaster that ravaged Kogi State.

Danga explained that every piece of equipment available have been damaged beyond repair, adding that the magnitude of the flood surpassed the 2012 flood hence nothing could have been done.

He pointed out that all the water-pumping machines have been destroyed, noting that the state government is not folding its arms as efforts have been made to replace all machines in due course.