As the scarcity of drinkable water intensifies in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), numerous residents have expressed their frustration over the lack of monthly water bills.
These consumers reported speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), claiming that they have not received any bills from the FCT Water Board for the last eight months.
They voiced concerns that, despite the diminishing water supply, they are now required to make unexpected trips to the water board offices to sift through old records in order to ascertain their outstanding payments.
According to NAN, the shortage of pipe-borne water in the FCT and surrounding satellite towns has reached alarming levels, primarily driven by rapid population growth that has placed additional strain on current water supply systems.
Residents frequently find that they seldom receive water from public taps due to inadequate distribution infrastructures.
In areas like Kubwa, Nyanya, and Gwagwalada, access to piped water is frequently non-existent for extended periods.
The problem is exacerbated by a lack of clarity surrounding payments and outstanding bills, forcing residents to go through past documents to verify their account statuses.
Abiewese Moru, a Garki resident, mentioned that water bills have not been issued at her residence for over eight months. Concerned about accruing unnoticed charges while striving to uphold her responsibilities, she traveled to the Water Board to pay any existing debt that she presumed might have accumulated.
"At the counter, I requested a current bill, but the official asked me to provide an older document in order to access my account," she recounted.
"I explained that no bill had reached me since mid-2025, which left me without any recent documentation to show."
"Without an old bill, they said they could not find my account information in their system."
Determined to address the issue, she returned to her car and searched through previous records, hoping to find something that could assist where the digital system had failed.
Luckily, she found a faded bill from 2024, which they then used to retrieve her account details.
Surprisingly, Moru found that her account showed only an outstanding charge for June 2025.
Intrigued by this situation, she inquired why the traditional house-to-house distribution of water bills had halted.
The official explained simply that the Board had run out of billing paper.
"I asked for my latest bill to be printed immediately so that I could settle all dues, but they instructed me to return home, take a picture of my water meter, and bring it back to the office," Moru said.
She managed to pay part of her June bill before exiting the office and has not returned with the meter photograph as requested.
Another resident, Emmanuel Udoh from Life Camp, stated that the last bill he received was in May 2025. Worried about potential outstanding payments, he visited the Water Board’s office, only to learn they lacked the paper and toner necessary for printing.
A staff member informed him that they could only come to the office twice a week since they had nothing to do due to the lack of essential materials.
Deji Akanni, who experienced similar difficulties at the Water Board office in Kubwa, alleged that the inefficiencies stemmed from the administrative style of FCT Minister Nyesom Wike.
The workers attributed their challenges to the minister’s highly centralized governance approach, which undermines the effectiveness of water board management by reducing autonomy over operations and financial matters.
They remarked that the current system has deteriorated to the point where agency heads can’t even authorize the purchase of vital supplies like billing paper without prior consent from the Minister.
In a response to NAN, a senior official from the FCT Water Board acknowledged the operational setbacks, requesting anonymity due to concerns of possible reprisal. The official revealed that the board has struggled with procuring the necessary materials for billing, as procurement authority was shifted to the Procurement Department at the FCTA Secretariat, which is managed by the minister.
The board has previously submitted requests for materials and is awaiting approval, according to the official.
Additionally, insiders indicated that the disruptions in water distribution stem from shortages of treatment chemicals and unpaid electricity bills owed to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, which have resulted in power cuts to some Water Board facilities.
To mitigate future issues, the Water Board is contemplating the implementation of an electronic billing system that would allow bills to reach customers via email.
"The intent is to send water bills directly to clients’ emails, although we still need to gather email addresses from many clients. Efforts are being made to update the contact information of residents," the official stated.
Until the electronic billing system is functional, numerous residents in Abuja will likely continue to rummage through old papers just to pay a straightforward water bill.
This predicament underscores deeper administrative flaws within key public utilities, where fundamental operational requirements hinder essential services and leave citizens with uncertainties regarding payments and supply.
Without urgent reforms to eliminate procurement hurdles, enhance institutional independence, and modernize billing operations, such interruptions in service delivery are poised to persist throughout the FCT.
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