‘We’re transparent and responsible’ — Sanwo-Olu speaks on Lagos procurement awards

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, has commended Funso Doherty for his open letter on the state’s procurement awards.

Sanwo-Olu spoke on Tuesday during the commissioning of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) complex at Ikeja.

The governor spoke amid criticisms of public expenditure by the Lagos government after Doherty’s letter.

Doherty, governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress  (ADC) in the last election, had in an open letter to Sanwo-Olu posted via X on Saturday, drew attention to some projects funded with taxpayers’ money.

Doherty said he analysed the register of public procurement awards by Lagos State Public Procurement Agency (LPPA) for the second and third quarters of 2023.

In the letter, the ADC candidate listed some projects appropriated by the state government that “require greater scrutiny”.

He cited that N2,017,840,000 was appropriated for the “provision of items (rechargeable fans, rechargeable lights, and fridge) in the office of the deputy governor”.

However, Obafemi Hamzat, the deputy governor of Lagos, denied the allegation, saying N2,017,840 was budgeted for the supply of the items.

LPPA has apologised for the “unintended misinterpretations” of information published on its website.

‘MISTAKES WERE MADE’

Speaking at the commissioning, Sanwo-Olu said his administration accepts constructive criticism, adding that he does not have a problem with Doherty concerning the open letter.

“We don’t have a problem with the originator of an open letter. In fact, we like it and we want to thank him,” he said.

The Lagos governor said his administration is “transparent and responsible” with public funds.

Sanwo-Olu added that officers in the procurement agency have come to the public to say “mistakes” were made on “minor items”.

“I’m sure that the officers in Lagos, they have all come up to show that indeed you can make mistakes on minor items,” he said.

“I hear that a particular one in which an item was meant to be two million, it was written as two billion.”

The governor said his administration would continue to serve the people of Lagos, adding that his administration will not join issues with people on social media.

“We are not going to join issues on social media. All we want to do is to continue to serve the good people of Lagos state,” he said.

“The website will continue to work. We will continue to put out all our numbers. We will continue to pride ourselves at all times that indeed we can make mistakes but it is not with any intention for us to be unmindful of what public good is.”