The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) sent a request to Mrs Sarah Ochekpe, Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources, seeking documents on the financial allocations and public expenditure on water projects in the past five years.
The request, dated May 7, 2012 and signed by SERAP's Executive Director, Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni, was made under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.
A copy of the letter was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.
SERAP asked Ochekpe to provide “information on the allocations, including international aid and spending of public funds to provide access to safe water for Nigerians in the past five years''.
The human rights group said the information was to be provided within 14 days, as stipulated by the FOI Act.
It said: “We are concerned about the number of Nigerians without access to potable and clean water which is currently placed around 66 million Nigerians (about 39 per cent of the population).
“ The figures are from the 2012 progress report released recently by the World Health Organisation/UN Children’s Fund Joint Monitoring Programme on drinking water and sanitation.''
The organisation, while bemoaning the lack of potable water, said people were being forced to make a choice to ration the little water, if any, that they were able to scoop.
It said majority of Nigerians, especially the most vulnerable groups, including children, women and the elderly, had been left to continue drinking contaminated water, capable of causing diseases.
“The right to water is a fundamental human right, and the violation of this right has continued to contribute to the violations of other human rights, including the right to equal treatment.
“It also violates the right to a general satisfactory environment, the right to health, the right to life and the right to human dignity and security,'' the organisation added.
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