The Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded an immediate and unadulterated publication of the exact budgetary expenditures for the projects President Bola Tinubu is commissioning.
The party, in a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Dr Christopher Odianarewo, said Lagosians cannot be expected to applaud in the dark.
It noted that a government that prides itself on “Megacity” status must first prove it has a “Megacity” conscience regarding public funds.
The party said: “We demand that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu move beyond the optics of ribbon-cutting and provide the following for each project: the original contract sum vs. the final cost of delivery.
“The identity of the contractors and the bidding process followed. The source of funding (Internally Generated Revenue, Loans, or Federal Grants).
“Our demand for transparency is rooted in recent history. It is a staggering insult to the collective intelligence of Lagosians that this administration, or its federal counterparts, can declare an expenditure of N40.17 billion on a CCTV project for 11-kilometer Third Mainland Bridge.
“In a state where the cost of living is suffocating the middle class and crushing the poor, spending over N3.6 billion per kilometre just for surveillance, not the bridge itself, is not just governance; it is fiscal recklessness.
“We must ensure that the projects being commissioned today are not being used as conduits for similar inflationary budgeting.
“It is a profound irony that the government is celebrating a “Food Logistics Hub” in Abijo while it simultaneously destroys the huge fish market of the poor in Makoko and Iyana-Oworo.
“How can we justify multi-agency complexes and sports stadia while thousands of Lagosians are rendered homeless via forced evictions without compensation or resettlement plans?
“A stadium in Ajegunle is meaningless if the children who should play in it have had their homes in nearby waterfronts levelled by government bulldozers.
“The PDP insists that the Greater Lagos vision must include the people of the soil, not just the concrete and steel that benefits a few.
“The Lagos State PDP insists that the Lagos State Government must publish a full breakdown of the costs of these six projects in national dailies.
“We remind the Sanwo-Olu administration that accountability is not an act of grace; it is a constitutional obligation. You can not run a state like a private family estate where the owners are never shown the books.
“The era of blind trust in the face of multi-billion-naira CCTV projects and legacy bridges is over. Give us the numbers, or admit that this celebration is merely a mask for fiscal irresponsibility.”
