Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has faced extensive criticism for authorizing expenditures such as N7.5 million for the replacement of liquid fragrance in his office and N3 billion for the acquisition of rechargeable fans for his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat.

Social media was abuzz with Nigerians expressing their discontent over additional contracts sanctioned by the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency (PPA) during the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2023. These contracts encompassed the approval of over N440 million for a new Lexus LX 600 Bulletproof Sport Utility Vehicle for the Chief of Staff’s pool office.

Further scrutiny of the records on Twitter disclosed that the Chief of Staff’s office also received N18.5 million for the supply and distribution of 2,000 Noiler chickens across local government areas and wards in the state. In a bid to restore water supply at the Iduganran palace, the official residence of the Oba of Lagos, the government sanctioned N152 million. Additionally, there is a plan to allocate N581 million for the renovation of Saint Andrews Anglican Church in the Oke-Popo area.

The document also unveiled allocations such as N30 million for the monthly outreach to indigent citizens by the wife of the deputy governor and another N30 million earmarked for an empowerment program in the office of the deputy governor. Responding to the exorbitant contracts utilizing public funds, Funsho Doherty, the 2023 governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) in Lagos, revealed that he had penned an open letter to Governor Sanwo-Olu urging a review of some of these 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.

Netizens questioned some of the contracts in the document, stressing that the government officials are wasteful and insensitive to the plight of common Nigerians.

@SavvyRinu said, “It’s evident why some would rather die than conduct free and fair elections.”

“This is eye-opening. I’m surprised why the office of the chief of staff is distributing and supplying chickens. We look forward to the response from the state govt,” @biodun_alao wrote.

@Kelvin18123 reacted, “Nobody will manage his private business this way, why things like this will persist is because people don’t go to jail for mismanagement and plundering of Government resources.”

@iam_wilsons said, “This is ridiculous. Nigerian politicians are eternally wicked.”

@DJDaley wrote, “And to think that minimum wage in Lagos State is N30,000 only.”