Doherty questioned why the LASG would use ₦531 million in taxpayer funds to renovate a church in his letter to Sanwo-Olu.
In response to accusations of fiscal irresponsibility leveled at the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Lagos State Government has taken to defending the contentious spending shown on the state’s procurement website.
Funso Doherty recently questioned the absurd sums granted for projects by the state government in an open letter to Sanwo-Olu, the Action Democratic Congress’s candidate for governor of Lagos in the 2023 election.
Doherty questioned the approval of numerous other projects, such as the ₦24.5 million remodeling of the Lagos Commissioner of Police’s official residence.
In response to his inquiry about the church’s reconstruction, the Lagos State Government defended the cost by citing the church’s historical significance as a state landmark in a statement signed by Fatai Onafowote, Director General of the Lagos State Procurement Agency.
The government clarified that the ₦531 million allotted for the church is intended for both renovations and payment for the cathedral’s partial demolition.
As a prominent historical landmark in Lagos State, the Church was established in 1889. It is therefore imperative that the state preserve this landmark.
“The contract sum includes the money allotted for the church’s renovation as well as payments made to the church for the necessary destruction of portions of its property because of road expansion,” the LASG clarified.
