Your borehole drilling policy anti-people – Group tells Adeleke

• Government, borehole operators agreed on fee

By Shina Abubakar, Osogbo

A civil society organisation in Osun State, Coalition of Concerned Nigerian Citizens, CCNC, have described Governor Ademola Adeleke’s policy on borehole drilling as “anti-masses and extortionate in nature”.

The State Government recently introduced N50,000 permit fees for individuals and organisations willing to drill a borehole in the State and the fee is to be paid into the Zenith account of a consultant rather than the State’s internal revenue agency.

The Spokesperson of CCNC, Raufu Sodiq, while briefing newsmen in Osogbo on Monday said the group has petitioned Governor Adeleke to attract his attention to the extortionate policy and lack of financial transparency in the policy.

He said the state government have shown lack of capacity as it failed to provide portable drinking water to the populace, yet, it is trying to make life difficult for the people who are trying to provide basic necessity of life for themselves.

“Government’s failure to provide adequate and accessible clean water to the public has led to individuals taking it upon themselves to drill boreholes to meet the public water needs which is one of basic necessity of life.This is not a luxury, but a necessity. It is unfair to expect individuals to pay for a permit to access a basic necessity like water when the government has failed to fulfill its responsibility.

“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 the agency that provide 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 potential permit fee of ₦50,000 per borehole is exorbitant and will further exacerbate the financial burden on citizens”, he said.

It called on the Governor to review the policy with a view to ensuring, “repealing the policy requiring individuals and companies to obtain permits and pay fees for drilling boreholes. Provide adequate and accessible clean water to the public, fulfilling the government’s responsibility to its citizens and his electoral promises”.

The group also queries the rationale behind the decision to use a private company account for the collection for the said fee, which questioned the integrity of the policy.

“We question why a private consultant, Royal Gem Multi Sector Ltd, is involved in the collection of revenue for the government. This raises concerns about the transparency and accountability of the revenue collection process”, he added.

Reacting, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Mr Sunday Oroniyi described the anti-people allegation as baseless, saying the amount ratified by government was collectively agreed by operators in the industry.

He added that the consultant was collecting the revenue for government after which he gets his percentage, saying government is already having breakthrough in the provision.

“Before we impose the fee, I invited the AWDROP members in my office this year, they expressed their views, 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”, he said.

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