Lagos Public Procurement: Any Responsible Govt Would Know That They Have Touched The Nerve Of The People – Doherty

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Funsho Doherty, has said that the state government has a lot of explanation to do over its public procurement awards.

Recall that some days back, Doherty, in an open letter to governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, challenged the information on the register of the public procurement awards by the Lagos government for the second and third quarters of 2023.

In the open letter, Doherty listed some projects awarded by the state government that “require greater scrutiny”.

Speaking during an interview with Daily Independent, the ADC flag bearer argued that the people are not satisfied with the information on the register.

He insisted that any responsible government would know that there is a need for more explanation.

Doherty maintained that there should be improvement in the procurement process.

He argued that the state government should know the right decisions to make in the use of public funds.

According to him, “For me I think they need to explain to the people. It’s not as if we manufactured anything. That was just the right information that we put out there. Look at the reactions of the people and I think any responsible government will know that it has touched the nerve of the people and so there is the need for explanation for justification. There are so many things needed right now.

“There should be improvement in the procurement process. That is one of the points which I made and you alluded to the fact that I have written on procurement before. I wrote on that pursuant to a letter which I had written at the time of the mass burial and I said in that letter which revealed certain things about the procurement process in the state. I wrote a follow up letter that the procurement agency got an admin fee in each of the procurements, and that was a conflict of interest.

“I will say that it is important that those structural things which create incentives for people not to do the right thing are removed. What I expect the government to do is to know the right decisions in judicious use of public funds and always in the public interest and in the long run, the fruit of those decisions will be revealed and reflected in the lives of the people.”