Lagos Assembly investigates Sanwo-Olu’s expenditure on fragrance, fans, and more

The State Public Procurement Agency, or PPA, was called to appear before the Lagos State House of Assembly yesterday over allegations of extravagant spending by the Governor and the Deputy Governor’s Offices.

According to the Daily Trust, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu faced severe backlash over the approval of N7.5 million to change liquid fragrance in his office and N2 billion to buy rechargeable fans for his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat’s office.

Hamzat claimed that his office received only N2m instead of the reported N3bn, but there were also doubts about other expenditures such as the approval of N44.8m for the removal of vegetables within the Epe Mixed Development Scheme and N73.1m for the making of the official portraits of President Bola Tinubu and the governor.

The Assembly Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, said at the session that the House needed to investigate the matter to verify the truth behind the story, despite the attempts by the executive to dismiss the story as false.

He said, “We urge the committee responsible for procurement to summon the agency and others involved and do detailed work on this to verify the facts regarding the publications.”

In the meantime, Governor Sanwo-Olu has said that his administration welcomes criticism.

The governor said this in response to the dispute that has followed the procurement record released by the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency.

He said, “We are dedicated, accountable, and transparent. We have no issue with anyone, or any individual. We recognise that there are ways we should improve our performance. We value criticism. We are glad that people can challenge us to do better in the state.

He added, “We have no problem with the author of an open letter. In fact, we appreciate it and we thank him, and that shows that we are a government that is firm and responsible, and we do not shy away from criticism.

He continued, “But the problem arises when criticism is malicious and distorts the truth. Some officers in Lagos have admitted that we can make errors on some items. I learned of one case where an item was supposed to be N2m but was written as N2bn.

He concluded, “For me, I’m leading a team of very committed public officials; I’m leading a team of dedicated civil servants. I’m leading a team of motivated public officials who want to prove themselves.

He said, “All we want to do is serve the people of Lagos and the state with all our strength and dedication, and we believe Lagosians can truly benefit from our service. I just want to make this point and put it to rest.”