How World Bank loan-funded water projects failed in Bauchi, Ekiti, Rivers – Report
A World Bank loan-backed water project designed to improve access to clean water in Ekiti, Rivers, and Bauchi states has instead left the states burdened with debt while failing to fulfil the right to water, according to Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA).
This revelation comes as the federal government prepares to secure six new loans totalling $2.23 billion from the World Bank in 2025, adding to the country’s mounting debt as the international financial institution continues supporting economic and structural reforms.
Data from the World Bank’s official website shows that these new loans will bring Nigeria’s total approved borrowings to $9.25 billion over three years.
The funds were intended to support critical sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare, education, and economic resilience. However, a closer analysis of Nigeria’s loan approvals under President Bola Tinubu’s administration shows a significant rise in funding commitments without commensurate improvements in public services.
A ‘failed’ investment
CAPPA’s report, ‘Big Debt, Big Thirst: A Case Study of World Bank-Supported Projects in Ekiti, Rivers, and Bauchi States’, explains how a $250 million loan from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) under the Third National Urban Water Sector Reform Project (NUWSRP3) failed to deliver on its promises.
In his opening remarks on Friday in Lagos, CAPPA’s Executive Director Akinbode Oluwafemi said that instead of improved water access, communities continue to face dry taps, exorbitant tariffs, and worsening infrastructure, while the Nigerian government remained locked in a 40-year debt repayment plan.
Access to water is a right, essential for life, health, and dignity. However, according to CAPPA’s findings, Mr Oluwafemi said the World Bank’s privatisation-driven approach has systematically denied millions of Nigerians this right.
“Take Ekiti State, for instance, where substantial investments were made in critical infrastructure like the Ero and Ureje dams under the NUWSRP3. Residents in areas such as Iworoko and Olorunsogo (Zones 1A-C, Zone 2, and Zone 4), who paid significant amounts—between N5,000 and N50,000—to obtain prepaid water meters and pipe connections to central water points in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, continue to suffer water deprivation,” he said. “When engaged, many community members nostalgically reference the 1990s as the last period when they had consistent access to potable water—ironically, a time when water utilities were publicly managed.”
He cited similar scenario in Bauchi State, North-west Nigeria, where “loan injection aimed at infrastructural upgrades and the corporatisation of the state water board has failed to resolve chronic water scarcity, primarily due to persistent electricity shortages
