We Can Make Mistakes On Some Budget Items – Lagos State Governor, Sanwo-Olu Admits Wasteful Spending

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has broken his silence since some items in records released by the state’s Public Procurement Agency indicted him and started causing public stir.

Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday during the inauguration of the Lagos State Building Control Agency building, PWD Ikeja, admitted that “we can make mistakes on some items” and “we are open to criticisms.”

The governor, while reacting to the released procurement records, welcomed the open letter by the governorship candidate of the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) in Lagos, Funso Doherty, and assured him that the government would continue to publish its spending and keep it open for public scrutiny.

SaharaReporters had on Monday reported that Governor Sanwo-Olu was presently in the eye of the storm after state procurement records showed he approved 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.

Other contracts awarded by the state’s Public Procurement Agency (PPA) in the 2nd and 3rd quarters of 2023 had 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 the Office of Chief of Staff.

The office of the Chief of Staff also got N18.5 million for the supply and distribution of 2,000 Noiler chickens across the local government areas and wards in the state.

On Tuesday, PUNCH quoted Governor Sanwo-Olu as saying, “We are committed, responsible and transparent. We don’t have a problem with anybody, or any individual. We acknowledge that these are ways we should be doing things.

“We appreciate criticism. We appreciate the fact that people can look at us in the face that we need to do well in the state.

“So we don’t have a problem with the originator of an open letter. In fact, we like it and we want to thank him, and that’s to say that indeed, to be a government that’s firm and responsible, we should not shy away from criticism.

“But it is only when criticism is malicious, unintended and it is to misrepresent the truth and that’s where there’s a problem. Some officers in Lagos have all come out to say that indeed we can make mistakes on some lines of items. I heard of a particular one that an item was meant to be N2million but it was written as N2billion.