Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, spent N10.4 billion from the state treasury for the “Office of the Governor” between July and September 2023, as disclosed in the state budget performance report.
The report further reveals that from January to September 2023, the governor spent over N35 billion for the operation of his office, excluding other miscellaneous expenses and activities.
Notably, the budget performance report on Page 40 discloses that the Sanwo-Olu administration allocated N11 billion for a category labelled “servicing of meetings” from January to September 2023. The recorded amount for this item is N11,449,295,411.71.
Page 42 of the report lists public infrastructure projects carried out in the third quarter of the year (July–September). Notably, the “construction and provision of public schools” consumed N501 million, while the “rehabilitation and repairs of public schools” took N1.5 billion during the same period.
Governor Sanwo-Olu faced criticism earlier in the week when state procurement records revealed approvals for N7.5 million to replace liquid fragrance in his office and N3 billion to purchase rechargeable fans for the office of his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat. Subsequently, the deputy governor claimed N2 million was paid to his office for the same facilities.
Additional contracts approved by the state’s Public Procurement Agency (PPA) in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2023 include over N440 million for the purchase of a new Lexus LX 600 Bulletproof Sport Utility Vehicle for the Office of Chief of Staff and N152 million for the restoration of water supply at Iduganran Palace, the official residence of the Oba of Lagos. The state also spent N581 million on renovating Saint Andrews Anglican Church in the Oke-Popo area.
Funsho Doherty, the 2023 governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) in Lagos, raised questions about some of these contracts and penned an open letter to Governor Sanwo-Olu urging a review of certain projects.
In response to public scrutiny, Governor Sanwo-Olu admitted that “we can make mistakes on some items” and expressed openness to criticism. He assured that the government would continue to publish its spending and remain open to public scrutiny.
