There were smiles on the faces of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and the two men who sat on both sides inside the Lagos House, Ikeja, as cameras’ clicked while the governor signed the Lagos State government’s N813 billion Appropriation Bill for 2017 into Law.
The budget, the biggest ever by the Lagos State government since its creation, was made up of N507.816 billion earmarked for capital expenditure and N305.182 billion set aside for recurrent expenditure, an aggregate ration of 62:38.
But a breakdown of the budget figures has been kept away from the cameras as well as the public, a marked departure from previous years where even a summary of expenditures and earnings were uploaded on the government’s official website.
“They (Lagos State government) are very tricky about it,” Stanley Achonu, Operations Lead at BudgIT, a civic organisation that helps Nigerians better understand government’s annual budgets.
“What they publish is the summary of the budget, you know, what went to what ministry, it doesn’t include details of the budget.”
For the 2017 fiscal year, both the summary and the detailed breakdown – which had never been publicly disclosed – of the budget is missing on the budget website of the Lagos State government.
Months of efforts to get a clarification from Steve Ayorinde, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, yielded no results as he neither answered phone calls nor replied text messages.
A silent government
While providing a sectoral breakdown of the state’s 2017 budget last January, Mr. Ashade said roads and infrastructure would get N141.692 billion, almost 20 percent of the total budget.
Between February and July, Governor Ambode commissioned over a dozen infrastructural projects, including the Abule Egba and Ajah Fly Overs; the Aboru-Abesan Link Bridge; and the Ojodu Berger Pedestrian Bridge, Lay By, Slip Road and Segregated Bus Park.
Others include the Omotayo Banwo/Kola Iyamolere Street in Ogudu, Kosofe local council; the Admiralty/Freedom Road in Lekki; the pedestrian bridge in Ojota; and a walkway in Jakande, Lekki.
In August, PREMIUM TIMES submitted two requests to the Lagos State government – an official letter requesting information and a Freedom of Information request – seeking the cost of some of these projects, including that of the 20 patrol vehicles procured for the Rapid Response Squad of the Lagos State Police Command.
Although the state government acknowledged receipt of the two letters, there have been no response two months after.
A similar FOI request months earlier asking for the cost of some projects undertaken by the state’s water corporation was also acknowledged but the information was not provided.
A Subnational Transparency Report published this year by BudgIT listed Lagos State among 16 states in Nigeria without a detailed public budget.
The state government did not also respond to PREMIUM TIMES enquiries about how much was spent on the year-long event.
But in an interview with Punch newspapers last May, Mr. Ayorinde, responding to a question on how much the Lagos@50 celebration cost the state government said they received “more than N1 billion” in support from “sponsors.”
“Before the sponsors came, what Lagos did was to give seed money so that things could move. But from sponsors alone, we have raised more than N1bn which is not just going into celebration,” Mr. Ayorinde said.
He did not provide details as to how much was the ‘seed money,’ who the sponsors were, and how the funds were disbursed.
Lanre Arogundade, Chairman of the International Press Centre, said the lack of access to public information in Lagos State is a concern for citizens and called for the issue to addressed urgently.
“Lagos is supposed to be the centre of excellence in everything but when the budget is not easily accessible, that’s worrisome,” Mr. Arogundade said.
Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director at SERAP, said while his organisation had not had a “serious interaction” with the present government, it had had little success with Mr. Ambode’s predecessor, Babatunde Fashola.
In December 2013, SERAP wrote to the Lagos State government requesting information and documents on spendings in public schools, following a $90 million World Bank loan, between 2009 and 2013.
The government did not respond.
In suit FHC/L/CS/57/2014 filed before a Lagos Division of the Federal High Court, SERAP urged the court to declare that by virtue of the provisions of Section 4(a) of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011, the governor is under a binding obligation to provide it with the information requested.
In its counter affidavit, the Lagos State government, represented by then Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Ade Ipaye, argued that the Freedom of Information Act was a federal legislation and, as a result, not binding on states.
“We’d sought information about the state of primary schools and what they have done; they refused, they insisted that the FOI must be domesticated,” Mr. Mumuni told PREMIUM TIMES.
Hitting a brick wall
This year, Mr. Arogundade’s IPC – in collaboration with BudgIT – sought to get a copy of the 2017 Lagos State government budget.
They hit a brick wall.
“I think it’s something worrisome and the issue needs to be taken up… because more can still be done by the government,” Mr. Arogundade said.
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/246096-ambodes-lagos-citizens-no-right-know-govt-budgets-spending.html

Corrupt leaders trynna do us boju-boju.

What is the budget spending in your own state.

Please paste it here let us see.

Intended Looting Loading !!

That's their way, using bogus projects to cajole the people. Huge and monumental corruption goes on in LASG.

Our Politicians are there to serve us and be accountable

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