TheCable

A document on the Lagos Public Procurement Agency (LPPA) website shows that N2,017,840 was earmarked 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.

Doherty said he analysed the register of public procurement 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 TheCable 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.

TheCable checked 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.”

LAGOS YET TO REACT

Since the release of the open letter on Saturday, the Lagos government is yet to release an official statement to react to the issues raised by Doherty.

Gboyega Akosile, chief press secretary to the Lagos governor, did not respond to calls or text messages about the matter.