Protocol.
The Honorable Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman H. Adamu FNSE, FAEng has stated that the partial commercialization of the River Basin Development Authorities is a golden opportunity to contribute to the advancement of the reform agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari through Integrated River Basin Management which we see as a vehicle for enhancing food security, jobs and wealth creation as encapsulated in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan of the Government.
The Minister made the statement yesterday, 14th September 2021 in Abuja during the inauguration of 10-man the Project Implementation Committee (PIC) for the Partial Commercialisation of the four (4) pilot River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs), that is, Sokoto-Rima, Ogun-Oshun, Upper Niger River Basin Development Authorities and the Niger Delta Basin Authority.
In his address, the Minister noted that in order to make the River Basin Development Authorities more productive, commercially viable and self-reliant, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari approved the partial commercialization of the 12 RBDAs with the bid to accessing private sector funds for the revitalization of the RBDAs and ensure effective and efficient service delivery.
Engr. Adamu pointed out that Ministry is pleased that the implementation of the processes leading to the partial commercialization of the RBDAs commenced successfully with the appointment of a Transaction Adviser and conduct of a Pilot Study of four (4) out of the 12 RBDAs to evaluate their critical assets and commercial viability towards partially commercializing them.
The names of members of the Project Implementation Committee that were inaugurated by the Honourable Minister are: Director BPE, Audu Mohammed Uba; Team Coordinator, Director, (RBOI) FMWR A.J. Ochigbo; Project Manager, Director, (Legal) FMWR O.N. Ibrahim, Esq. Member, Technical Adviser to DG, BPE Aderemi Azeez; Member, Managing Director, Ogun – Osun River Basin Development Authority, Olufemi Odumosu; Member, Managing Director, Niger Delta River Basin Development Authority, Mark Darefaka; Member, Managing Director, Upper Niger River Basin Development Authority, Prof. Abdulkarim Mohammed Ali; Member, Managing Director, Sokoto – Rima River Basin Development Authority, Engr. Buhari Bature Mohd; Member, Representative of Consultants, Agri Africa – A & E Law Partnership Consortium, Chibuzor Ekwekuo; Member, Representative of Consultants, Agri Africa – A & E Law Partnership Consortium, Kehinde Odunlami; Member, and Project Manager BPE Sanusi Abdu-Ali; Member/Secretary.
The Minister gave them the following Terms of Reference (TOR): review the approved recommendations and the proposed implementation strategy by the Advisers for the partial commercialization and introduction of PPP in some projects of the pilot RBDAs; work out the modality and drive their implementation of the recommendations; monitor and review the implementation and make appropriate recommendation to the Honourable Minister etc.
Earlier in his welcome speech, the Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Mr. Alex A. Okoh expressed his optimism that the partial commercialisation and introduction of PPP in some projects of the RBDAs will lead to the optimization of the RBDAs’ assets and the key resource of water along the value chain of Agriculture, Irrigation, Small scale power generation and portable water for consumption.
The inauguration ceremony was witnessed by the Permanent Secretary, FMWR Mrs. Didi Walson – Jack mni and some Directors in the Ministry.
Kenechukwu Offie (Mrs.)
Director (Press and Public Relations Unit)
15th September, 2021.
