The Lagos State Deputy Governor’s Office has debunked online claims stating that it received N2 billion for the procurement of fans, rechargeable lights, and fridges, asserting that the actual amount was only N2 million.
Earlier, widespread online reports falsely suggested that Deputy Governor Dr. Obafemi Hamzat received N2 billion for the provision of fans, rechargeable lights, and fridges, with an additional N30 million monthly allocation for his wife’s outreach to indigent residents.
An internal memo dated November 20, originating from the deputy governor’s office and directed to the Director General of the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, strongly criticized the assertions made on a website regarding procurement activities linked to the deputy governor’s office. The memo labeled the open letter as ‘untrue, mischievous, fake, and unfounded.’
Issued by Tola Ekemode, the Director of Finance and Account, on behalf of the Permanent Secretary in the deputy governor’s office, the memo specifically denounced the procurement agency’s claims and the online article titled ‘Open Letter on Selected Public Procurement by LASG in the Period April – Sept 2023,’ which has gained attention on social media since last weekend, as a complete distortion of facts.
The deputy governor’s office, however, urged the agency to take prompt action in addressing the issue by giving the general public a true account of what was approved for the Office of the Deputy Governor.
The memo addressed to PPA reads in part, “According to the online news, the Office of the Deputy Governor was reported to have awarded the sum of =N=2,017,840,000 for the provision of supply items (rechargeable fans, rechargeable lights and fridges).
“It was also reported that the office spent =N=30,000,000 monthly for outreach to indigents by the Wife of the Deputy Governor and same about for monthly empowerment programme by the Wife of the Deputy Governor.”
“The Office of the Deputy Governor wishes to state in unequivocal terms, for your immediate action and the attentions of millions of readers that the report is untrue, mischievous, fake and unfounded.”
The Office stated that it felt obligated to pen the letter due to the inaccuracies it contained. The narrative presented was entirely divergent and did not accurately represent the information recorded in its files.
The memo added, “Also, we would not allow some individual(s) and journalists with mischievous inclination bring the personality and name of the Deputy Governor, his wife and the office to disrepute.
“It is important to state that truly, the office did get approval and awarded the provision of supply items (rechargeable fans, rechargeable lights and fridges) for the sum of N2,017,840 (Two Million, Seventeen Thousand, Eight Hundred and Forty Naira) as against the =N=2,017,840,000 (Two Billion, Seventeen Million, Eight Hundred and Forty Thousand Naira as reported by Doherty in his purported letter,” it added.
The office stated that the report that the office through the Wife of the Deputy Governor spent N30,000,000 monthly for outreach to indigents was inaccurate as the amount stated covered the whole year.
“It is N2,500,000 per month. Same for the Empowerment programme by the Wife of the Deputy Governor which also N2,500,000 per month as against N30,000,000 monthly reported.”
“The above narrative is exactly what we have in our records and please, kindly find attached the approvals by Mr. Deputy Governor, the Letters of Award of the contract for your further necessary action.”
“This is very sad and Mr. Deputy Governor has expressed his displeasure to this happening and will want your office to kindly address this by giving the public the true picture of things and want your staff to be more careful next time as we cannot have people on the pretext of criticism be cooking up stories without verifying and without credible basis,” the memo said.