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A document on the
Lagos Public Procurement Agency (LPPA) website shows that N2,017,840 was
awarded for the supply of rechargeable fans and fridge in the office of the
deputy governor.
This is contrary to the N2,017,840,000 quoted by Funso
Doherty, governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC), in
Lagos.
In an open letter to Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos,
posted via X on Saturday, Doherty called attention to projects
funded with taxpayers’ money.
awards by LPPA for the second and third quarters of 2023.
According to the ADC candidate, the awards reviewed were
from April to September 2023.
In the letter, Doherty listed some projects awarded by the
state government that “require greater scrutiny”.
He cited that N2,017,840,000 was awarded for the “provision
of supply items (rechargeable fans, rechargeable lights, and fridge) in the
office of the deputy governor”.
Doherty also added that the office of deputy governor was
awarded N30,000,000 for “monthly outreach of indigent citizens by the wife of
the deputy governor”.
According to the chartered accountant, another N30,000,000
was awarded for the monthly empowerment programmes of the wife of the deputy
governor.
The open letter elicited criticisms as Nigerians asked the
state government to address the issue.
DISCOVERIES ON THE LPPA WEBSITE
When downloaded the PDF document for July awards on the LPPA
website, it was observed that N2,017,840 was earmarked as an award for the
supply of rechargeable fans, lights, and fridge.
On checking the properties of the PDF document and
found out that it was created on November 18, 2023, at 7:25pm — a few hours
after Doherty made his X post on the same day.
This indicates that the document may have been edited and
re-uploaded on the website to reflect N2,017,840, contrary to the figure posted
by Doherty.
‘N2m WAS APPROVED — NOT N2bn’
In a letter dated November 20 and addressed to the
director-general of LPPA, the office of the deputy governor of Lagos said the
figures on the website were different from what was awarded to the office.
The deputy governor’s office asked the director-general of
the LPPA to clarify the “untrue and unfounded” information.
The letter, which was signed by Tola Ekemode, director of
finance and accounts in the deputy governor’s office, was obtained by Premium
Times.
In the letter, the office said the sum of N2,017,840 was
awarded for the supply of rechargeable fans and not N2,017,840,000.
The office asked the LPPA to crosscheck the “data and
confirm the correctness or otherwise of all the details of the report as
displayed on the website”.
“It is important to state that, the office did get approval
and awarded the provision of supply items (rechargeable fans, rechargeable
lights and fridges) for the sum of =N=2,017,840 (Two Million, Seventeen
Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty Naira) and not the =N=2,017,840,000 (Two
Billion, Seventeen Million, Eight Hundred and Forty Thousand Naira as reported
on the website of your agency, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, Lagos
MEPB Q3 Budget Performance Review referenced by the X (formerly Twitter)
account,” the letter reads.
“Truth must be said, this is very sad and Mr. Deputy
Governor has expressed his displeasure to this happening and will want your
office to kindly address this by giving the public the true picture of events.
“These errors or inaccuracies exhibited by your data are
capable of putting credibility at stake.
“One then wonders about the accuracies of the content on the
site if the items concerning the Deputy Governor’s Office can be this
inaccurate.
“It is therefore important that you look through the data
and confirm the correctness or otherwise of all the details of the report as
displayed on the website.”