Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has responded to the alleged approval of N3.75 billion to replace liquid fragrance in his office and to purchase rechargeable fans for the office of his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, saying, it was a misrepresentation of fact.
Sanwo-Olu had been widely criticised on social media for approving 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.
The contract was said to be awarded by Lagos state’s Public Procurement Agency (PPA) in the second and Third quarters of 2023 which included approval of over 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.
Sanwo-Olu, remarked on Tuesday, at the official commissioning of the new Four-storey office complex of Lagos State Building Control Agency, LABSCA, at Ikeja GRA.
The occasion was attended by members of the State executive council, eminent personalities, top government functionaries, royal fathers, political chieftains, and leaders of ethnic groups, among others.
Addressing the mammoth crowd, the governor said, “We saw on social media the criticism. We appreciate the fact that people can criticize us, that shows we need to do well. So we don’t have any problem with the originator
“If a government is responsible it should not shy away from consecutive criticisms.
“But it is only when criticism is malicious, undefended, and begins to misrepresent the truth, that when there’s a problem, and I’m sure that the officers in Lagos State, they’ve all come out to show that, indeed they can make mistakes on some lines of items.
“I am sure that the officers in Lagos State have all come out to show that indeed they can make mistakes from time to time.
“There was a particular one in which an item was to be 2 million and it was written as 2 billion. For clarity, if you know the Excel website, that is the website that we created. It is an Excel sheet website, so you know how it works from time to time indeed.
“For us, we want to say I am leading a team of dedicated public officers, I am leading a team of committed public officers, I am leading a team of self-motivated public officers and I want to stand and say that they can perform or they can indeed stand and be recognized with anyone worldwide and this is a public building that has been judiciously hinged on budget delivered to see that.
“That is what we are called in Lagos, that is what we stand for, that is what we believe should be a responsive and responsible governance.
“And so we are not going to join issues with social media. All we want to do is continue to serve the people of Lagos and serve it with every iota of strength that we have with any commitment that we have and believing that you Lagosians that we are serving can truly, truly see the benefit or our service.
“And I want to make this point and put this to rest, the website will continue to work.
“We will continue to put all our numbers there to continue to pride ourselves at all times that indeed we can make mistakes but not with any intentions for us to be unmindful of what public rule is and continually ensure that the public rules with public assets we will continue to respect to it’s best.”
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
