SURWASH Raises Alarm Over Implementation Bottlenecks

Halfway into its six-year mandate, the Sustainable Urban and Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (SURWASH) programme has raised concerns over what it describes as implementation bottlenecks allegedly caused by undue interference from the supervising ministry.

The $700 million World Bank-backed initiative, which supports seven participating states—Delta, Ekiti, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Katsina, and Plateau—is structured to provide financing through technical assistance and performance-based reimbursement. Under the arrangement, states fund projects upfront from their budgets and are reimbursed following independent verification.

However, recent developments appear to be threatening the progress of the programme. In one of the participating states, a SURWASH official, Abdullahi Korau, alleged disruptions following the unexpected removal of the National Coordinator.

“Presently, midway into the programme, the sudden and immediate removal of the National Coordinator who has been tailoring the stewardship of the programme, under the Minister of Water Resources, who put his personal assistant to now head the programme,” he said.

Korau further claimed that some of the implementing states are now being asked to provide gratification before payments are processed.

“At the moment, implementing states are being expected to give gratification before their entitlement are processed for payment,” he said, calling on the Federal Government to intervene swiftly.

SURWASH, which began in 2019 under the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, aims to improve sustainable access to WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) services for Nigerians by 2030. It is aligned with the National Action Plan (NAP) for the revitalization of Nigeria’s WASH sector, which was approved by the Federal Executive Council in 2018 and launched by former President Muhammadu Buhari, who declared a state of emergency in the sector.

The programme is expected to help Nigeria achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6.1 and 6.2, which target universal access to safe water and sanitation.

As implementation challenges threaten progress, stakeholders within the sector are urging for transparency, continuity, and accountability to ensure that the programme delivers on its promises.