Manufacturers seek Sanwo-Olu intervention over sealing of water industries

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has implored the Governor of Lagos state, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to use his good office to order the immediate reopening of some closed water factories in the state.

The Director General of MAN, Mr Segun Ajayi-Kadir, made the call in an open message to the governor on Friday in Lagos.

According to him, the call will pave way for a logical and passable conclusion of the ongoing conversations on how to permanently resolve the matter of outstanding fees.

He said it would also help conclude the impending Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Water Commission and the Organised Private Sector.

The MAN DG stated that the association was constrained to convey the open message to the Governor, as all attempts at approaching the relevant heads of agencies and ministry had failed.

He said manufacturers were worried by the act of Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LASWARCO) in sealing factories over their purported refusal to pay the commission’s astronomical water abstraction fees.

Ajayi-Kadir noted that the action was ill-timed and quite unfortunate, as the Commission and MAN had engaged in meaningful dialogue and reached some agreements over the lingering issue three months ago.

“This was expected to culminate in an MoU to commence in January 2025 as only three weeks ago, another round of discussions took place between LASWARCO and representatives of MAN, including affected member companies.

“This led to ongoing discussions in the companies as to the most viable option for addressing the alleged outstanding payments from earlier contested fees.

“It is while this discussions were going on and during the Yuletide that the Commission decided to cause this major and unwise shut down of the companies,” he said.

Ajayi-Kadir stressed the importance of properly situating the inappropriate action within the context of the prevailing inclement operating environment in general and the downturn in the manufacturing sector in particular.

He said that a situation where industries were burdened with payments in excess of N100 million for generating water for production purpose, in the face of government’s failure to supply same, was unfair.

He noted that the exorbitant fees and the untoward means of extracting payment exemplified the negative impact of tyranny of regulation on private business.

“To date, manufacturers across the country are saddled with more that N1.2billion of unsold inventory, borrowing at more than 30 per cent and struggling under a debilitating 250 per cent increase in the cost of power.

“Numerous taxes, fees and levies by the three tiers of government and non-state actors in some cases, numbering between 60 to 120 confront each manufacturer, not to mention the disruption of production activities due to insecurity and high cost of logistics.

“So, to add this oppressive water abstraction fee in Lagos state that may potentially be adopted by other states, presents an ominous and rancorous future for manufacturers in particular and private businesses in general,” he said.