A Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Account Report from 2019-2020 has put the estimated total expenditure for the sector in Nigeria at N 4.3 trillion just as the World Health Organisation (WHO) says 48 million Nigerians practice open defecation.
This was revealed at the just- concluded South Dissemination workshop organised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Port Harcourt.
The workshop has as it’s theme,”Strengthening WASH Institutions and Systems through WASH Account Process at Subnational Level”
According to the Report,”from the 2019 -2020 WASH Account Report , the estimated total WASH expenditure in Nigeria for 2019 stood at N4.3 trillion.
It however said the figure dropped to 3.9 trillion naira for the following year.
“On closer scrutiny, the estimated Government expenditure component for 2019 was 162 billion naira, dropping to 145 billion naira by 2020, representing 3.7 percent total WASH expenditure for both 2019, and 2020”
The Director, Water Quality Control And Sanitation Federal Ministry of Water Resources And Sanitation Mrs E A ugoh who reads the report during the workshop said  the situation shows that all tiers of Government in the country need to improve on investment and strengthen systems for the collection of and analysis of financial information for more effective WASH sector planning and decision making
She said the “workshop was one of the identified mechanisms to enable stakeholders deliberate on the challenges facing financing of the sector and recommend effective measures for tackling them if we are to meet the desired objectives inline with our national and international obligations
According to Ugoh”this Dissemination meeting is expected to among other things review the key findings of the 2019 and 2020 WASH Account Report, the methodologies used in developing the report and suggest ways for improving on the subsequent cycles
“I am therefore hopeful that the participants at this Dissemination Workshop will freely share their knowledge and experiences to enrich the deliberations so that we can collectively contribute to effecting the desired improvements that furthers the realization of our objectives for the sector”, she said
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO )says 48 million Nigerians are still practicing Open defecation.
A consultant, public health and Environment World Health Organization Dr Edwin Isotu Ede also said only 70 percent of the population have access to basic drinking water services.
Ede attributed  this to low investment by Governments in the WASH sector.
“We have gaps,we have 48 million Nigerians who practice open defecation and only 70 percent of the population have access to basic drinking water services
“So now what are the key gaps around all of these is that the amount of money we spent or we invest in as a government or as a people into water hygiene and sanitation is very low
“You talk about 0.23 percent of our GDP.So the more investment, the more the rewards and if you look at most of the these investment, most of these investment are actually coming from out of pocket expenditure from various households
“So an average Nigerian spent about N19,500 on WASH”, he said.
General Manager Rivers state Rural Water Supply And sanitation agency RUWASSA Mr Napoleon Adah said the workshop will equipped participants with the necessary information to educate and sensitize the Authorities on the need for more investment in the sector.