By Itam Offor
CALABAR (CONVERSEER) – In a decisive step towards eliminating environmental and public health hazards, the Cross River State House of Assembly recently organised a public hearing on the Cross River State Open Defecation (Prohibition) Bill, 2025.
The hearing, organised by the House Committee on Water Resources and Sanitation, took place at the Mini Auditorium of the Assembly Complex in Calabar. It provided a platform for stakeholders, civil society groups, and the executive arm to refine the legislative framework aimed at making the state open defecation-free (ODF).
The proposed legislation seeks to mandate every household and public institution in the state to provide functional toilet facilities. Under the bill, it is strictly prohibited for any person to urinate or defecate in public spaces, bushes, or water bodies.
Speaking with journalists shortly after the hearing, the Chairman of the Committee and Sponsor of the Bill, Hon. Kingsley Ntui (Etung) said the bill aims to address the menace of open defecation and solve key health challenges that such practice has caused in the state.
“When you look around more in our rural areas, even in urban towns, you find out that, for instance, when you go to most of these uncompleted buildings, you find out that people defecate around there. And then when you go to streams in our local areas where most people bathe, and then they drink from there, people defecate. You know what a health challenge that can cause.”
Ntui commended all stakeholders for their insights and contributions, noting that in the near future, open defecation will be a punishable offence with penalties clearly spelt out in the bill.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation and Chairman of STG-WASH, Engr. Okon Asuquo Ita described the public hearing as “the first of its kind in the country,” stressing that the passage of the bill will give Cross River State another opportunity to take the lead in the sanitation sector.
“The first six local governments to address open defecation in the country are from Cross River State. Along the line, we saw that we started going down, but I believe this is another opportunity for us to take it up again and then move to a higher height,” he said.
In his own contributions, the General Manager of the Cross River State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA), Hon. Sunday Oko, underscored the importance of the bill to his agency, saying it will guide in implementing all matters related to sanitation and allow them prosecute offenders.
“If it is passed into law, is something that is going to aid the agency very well. Because that has been the challenge we are having in the field, going to stop open defecation. There is no law. So this law has come to help us. It’s going to help the state. And it’s going to help our communities.”
On his part, the Commissioner for Information, Hon. Erasmus Ekpang, PhD, commended the State House of Assembly for its due diligence. He stressed that the bill is in line with Governor Bassey Otu’s “People First Agenda”.
According to him, the public hearing gave room for the input of the common man and every stakeholder concerned about changing the trend in the state. He assured that Governor Otu will give assent to the bill as soon as it is presented to him.
During the engagement, other stakeholders from the civil society and legal sectors, including environmental health officers, stressed the need to ensure the law is practical and inclusive, while urging the government to ensure that public toilet facilities are made available and placed in strategic locations before strict enforcement begins.
The bill is expected to undergo a final review by the committee before being presented for a third reading and eventual passage.
Present at the Public Hearing were Co-sponsors of the bill, other Lawmakers as well as stakeholders across the State.
