MILLIONS to renovate Lagos CP’s home approved by Governor Sanwo-Olu in the days leading up to election
The official mansion of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police was renovated with funding of N24.5 million, thanks to the leadership of Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the state government.
Omay Engineering Services Ltd.’s proposal was approved on February 6, just days before the general election on February 25, according to Daily Trust.
In an effort to suppress votes and frighten their supporters, the main opposition parties in the state accused security agents of conspiring with non-state entities in some regions of the state.
In the second and third quarters of 2023, this was evident in the state government’s Public Procurement awards.
The state ministry of justice also paid four senior lawyers N200 million to represent Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat in pre-election matters, in addition to the money spent on renovations.
Additionally, N20.8m was disbursed by the state to adorn the location of the political delegates’ convention.
But the funds weren’t greenlit until June 26, which is over three months after the 2023 midterms.
In July, the Campaign office at GRA, Ikeja planned to receive furniture items for N6.1 million. The use of public funds to support political campaigns is morally reprehensible, according to political analysts.
Iduganran palace, the formal house of the Oba of Lagos, has its water supply restored with the approval of N152 million by the government.
The Nigerian people are already trying to deal with the economic reality, and now these discoveries add insult to injury.
The deputy governor, meantime, has spoken out about the scandal, claiming that he actually received N2 million—not N2 billion—for rechargeable fans.
According to Hamzat’s memo to the procurement agency’s director general, his wife received N2.5 million per month for her empowerment initiative and outreach to the poor, but the agency only received N30 million.
The report by the agency was described by Hamzat as false, malicious, fraudulent, and without foundation in a memo signed by Tola Ekemode, Director of Finance and Accounts, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary in the office of the deputy governor.
“It should be noted that truthfully, the office did receive authorization and granted the supply of items (rechargeable fans, lights, and refrigerators) for the amount of =N=2,017,840 (Two Million, Seventeen Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty Naira),” contradicting the reported amount of =N=2,017,840,000 (Two Billion, Seventeen Million, Eight Hundred and Forty Thousand Naira) in Doherty’s purported letter.
The claim that the office, via the Deputy Governor’s wife, spent =N=30,000,000 monthly on outreach to the poor is also false, since the figure indicated covered the entire year. That works out to 2,500,000 USD monthly. The memo also mentioned the empowerment scheme run by the wife of the deputy governor, which reports a monthly budget of 2,500,000 Naira instead of the reported 30,000,000.
