Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State apologised on Tuesday for the outrageous amounts that appeared on the state’s procurement website, saying no administration was immune to mistakes and adding that his government was committed to public goods.
Sanwo-Olu made the comment in response to the procurement record issued by the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency at the opening of the Lagos State Building Control Agency Building, PWD Ikeja.
While applauding the open letter by the Action Democratic Congress’s governorship candidate in Lagos, Funso Doherty, Sanwo-Olu promised him that the government will continue to publicise its spending and make it open to public scrutiny.
In a video clip shared by his aide, Jubril Gawat, on X handle, the governor Sanwo-Olu said, “We are committed, responsible, and transparent. We don’t have a problem with anybody, or any individual. We acknowledge that these are ways we should be doing things.
“We appreciate criticism. We appreciate the fact that people can look at us in the face that we need to do well in the state.”
Sanwo-Olu added, “So we don’t have a problem with the originator of an open letter. In fact, we like it and we want to thank him, and that’s to say that indeed, to be a government that’s firm and responsible, we should not shy away from criticism.
“But it is only when criticism is malicious, unintended and it is to misrepresent the truth and that’s where there’s a problem.
“Some officers in Lagos have all come out to say that indeed we can make mistakes on some lines of items. I heard of a particular one that an item was meant to be N2m but it was written as N2bn.
“For me, I’m leading a team of very dedicated public officials; I’m leading a team of committed civil servants. I’m leading a team of self-motivated public officials who want to stand and say that they can be well recognised.
“All we want to do is to serve the people of Lagos, and serve the state with every iota of strength and commitment we have, and believing Lagosians can truly see the benefit of our service.
“I just want to make this point and put it to rest. The website will continue to work. We’ll put all our numbers there, and we’ll continue to pride ourselves at all times that indeed we can make mistakes, but it is not any intention for us to be unmindful of what public goods are and to ensure that public goods is what will continue to be respected.”
