Controversial Lawyer Says Water Bill Unconstitutional

Mohammed O. Taoheed

Barrister Malcolm Omirhobo, a Nigerian controversial lawyer and rights activist, has called on the National Assembly to discard the proposed National Water Resources Bill, saying it contradicts the Land Use Act and the 1999 Constitution.

In his words, federal lawmakers have no powers to legislate on fishing and fisheries in rivers, lakes, waterways, ponds and other inland waters in the country, which are some of the subject matters of the bill.

Speaking in Lagos on Saturday during a colloquium hosted by the Malcolm Omirhobo Foundation, the Lagos-based lawyer maintained that the bill’s objectives include matters which only the state houses of assembly have the powers to pass into law, not the national assembly which, in his view, is acting ultra vires.

The legal wig argued equally that the National Water Resources Bill in its entirety “is inconsistent with the clear positions of the Land Use Act and Section 315 (5) (d) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended) and therefore, to the extent of its inconsistency, null and void.”

Participants at the one-day colloquium included Stakeholders of the Indigenous People Within Nigeria, comprising over 500 ethnic nationalities

They gave the National Assembly 90 days to stop the passage of the bill, failure of which it should prepare to defend itself in court.

Omirhobo noted that the ethnic nationalities were committed to the country’s unity on the basis of justice, fairness, equity, oneness and peaceful co-existence between and among its peoples with a focus on the attainment of shared goals for economic growth and prosperity.

His words: “For Nigeria to progress, its government must without further delay be courageous enough to restructure the country by encouraging the establishment of state police and the reversion of the country from a unitarism to true fiscal federalism as it was in 1963. Every state must be allowed to manage its natural resources and pay taxes to the Federal Government.

“The Nigerian government should and with immediate effect dredge the River Niger and Oguta Lake to be navigable and reopen, activate and develop the Warri, Calabar, Koko, Onne and Port Harcourt sea ports, to create jobs and promote socio-economic activities in the country.

“Nigeria is 90 per cent a failed state with agitations among the various indigenous peoples due to lack of inclusiveness and transparency in existing governance structure, consequently the way out is for the Federal Government to convoke a referendum as a matter of urgency.”

The stakeholders of the Indigenous Peoples within Nigeria argued that if the bill is passed into law, it will give the Federal Government exclusive dominance and control over waterways which will further impoverish Nigerians in riverine states who depend on waterways to generate revenue internally.

On July 27, 2022, governors of the 36 states of the Federation declared unanimous opposition to the bill, describing the proposed legislation as unconstitutional adding that it failed to carry states along.

The governors stressed that the bill does not adequately address the interests of the states and is inconsistent with the Constitution. The bill, according to them should be reviewed, with a view to accommodating the concerns of all states.