Lagos State government has said that it has neither privatised water supply, nor awarded water privatisation contract to any organisation.
It said the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model it was initiating in the water sector was still at bidding stage.
Managing Director, Lagos Water Corporation, Muminu Badmus, disclosed this at the weekend while reacting to reports in some sections of the media.
Badmus debunked reports by some online media that the state government had awarded water privatisation contract to a discredited company as false, stressing that such insinuations were at best preemptive as government had only shortlisted a number of reputable companies, none of which was yet to have the contract.
He explained that the Lagos Water Corporation had publicly advertised an Expression of Interest (EOI), which attracted seven local and international firms, out of which four firms were shortlisted following a rigorous and transparent process.
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He assured Lagosians that the state government would continue to work in their interest in the bid to promote their wellbeing, adding that that was the main reason why the Akinwunmi Ambode administration had prioritised provision of potable water to the people by investing in water facilities as evidenced by the increase in water supply to 220 million gallons per day to rapidly bridge supply gap.
Badmus stated that the exponential increase in population had continued to push the water supply need of Lagos State to 570MGD, leaving a gap of over 300MGD, while for the same demographic reason, the state’s resources faced pressure from other critical areas.
“Globally, attention is being shifted to the PPP arrangement to provide infrastructure for the people as government can no longer shoulder the responsibility alone,” he said.
He said that what the government was working towards was ultimately a PPP arrangement and not outright withdrawal, adding that government was midwifing an arrangement that would ensure the injection of both public and private funds and expertise to drive seamless provision of potable water to the teeming population of Lagosians.
He assured Lagosians that as the ultimately beneficiaries, they would have cause to rejoice at the outcome of the ongoing process which not only promised to evolve an effective and enduring solution to their water supply needs, but also bring about a model for the country and the entire West Africa sub-region.
