Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has come under criticism after the state’s procurement record showed that he approved N7.5 million for the replacement of liquid fragrance in his office and N2 billion to purchase rechargeable fans, lights and fridge for the office of his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat,
Other contracts awarded by Lagos state’s Public Procurement Agency (PPA) in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2023 with the governor’s approval included more than N440 million for the purchase of a new Lexus LX 600 Bulletproof Sport Utility Vehicle for use in the pool of Office of Chief of Staff.
Another N1.6 billion for the procurement of twenty units of new Ashok Leyland Falcon Buses for use in the pool of the office of the Chief of Staff. Also, another, N600 million was approved for the procurement of ten brand new Hyudai County Buses for use in the Pool of the Office of the Chief of Staff.
The office of the Chief of Staff also got N18.5 million for the supply and distribution of 2,000 Noiler chickens across the local government areas and wards in the state.
N540 million was also approved for the renewal/extension of technical support services for the management of operation of Lagos Rice Mill Imota.
N152 million was also approved by the government for the restoration of the water supply at the Iduganran palace, the official residence of the Oba of Lagos.
The state will spend N581 million to renovate Saint Andrews Anglican Church in the Oke-Popo area of the state, according to the document.
N315 billion was approved for “consultancy services for the engagement of monitoring and evaluation specialist for NG-CARES implementation” in the state.
Another N405 million was approved for the “engagement of the consultancy on operations management monitoring and customer tools for Lagos State parking authority.”
Also, the office of deputy governor was awarded the sum of N30,000,000 for “monthly outreach of indigent citizens by the wife of the deputy governor. while there was another N30 million budgeted for the empowerment programme.
In his reaction, the 2023 governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) in Lagos, Funsho Doherty, said he had written an open letter to Governor Sanwo-Olu to review some of the projects.
“I just wrote an open letter to the governor on Public Procurement awards reported by LASG for the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2023, highlighting a number of issues for further scrutiny and remedial action.
“Judicious use of public funds is always important and is especially so now,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
I just wrote an open letter to the Governor on Public Procurement awards reported by LASG for the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2023, highlighting a number of issues for further scrutiny and remedial action. Judicious use of public funds is always important, and is especially so now. pic.twitter.com/AEulEU64aN
— funsodoherty (@funsodoherty) November 18, 2023
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
