PDP gov aspirant demands transparency in Lagos budget

File Photo: Lagos State governorship aspirant under the Peoples Democratic Party, Funso Doherty.

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A Peoples’ Democratic Party governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Funso Doherty, has faulted the N4.237tn 2026 budget proposal presented by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, alleging errors, weak fiscal transparency and misplaced spending priorities.

In an open letter addressed to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, titled ‘Re: Lagos State Government’s 2026 Proposed Budget’ and dated Thursday, December 11, 2025, Doherty said the budget figures, as presented to lawmakers on November 25, 2025, were “misstated” and required urgent clarification before approval.

The PUNCH reported that the proposed N4.23tn 2026 budget for Lagos State had scaled its second reading at the state House of Assembly.

At its last plenary in early December, the Assembly committed the appropriation bill to the House Committee on Economic Planning and Budget for further legislative action, with a directive to report its findings within five weeks.

“The budget presentation outlines a total size of N4.237tn, comprising recurrent expenditure of N2.052tn and capital expenditure of N2.185tn. However, this recurrent expenditure figure includes about N383bn in debt repayments, which is a capital and not a recurrent expenditure item,” Doherty wrote.

He added, “As a result, the recurrent expenditure figure is misstated by almost N400bn, and consequently, the capital expenditure and overall budget figures may also be inaccurate.”

Doherty also questioned the internal consistency of the proposal, noting that the sectoral allocation figures added up to only N3.4tn.

“One, or possibly both, of these figures must therefore be wrong,” he said.

The PDP aspirant accused the Lagos State Government of denying the public an opportunity to scrutinise budget proposals before passage, arguing that this practice weakens accountability.

“LASG does not provide details of its proposed budget in the public domain until well after the Appropriation Act is passed into law. This lack of transparency prevents effective review, commentary and input into the proposals,” Doherty stated.

Doherty further raised concerns over an amount allegedly allocated to consultancy and professional fees, noting that the sum accounted for “almost 15 per cent of the entire recurrent cost budget of Lagos State.”

“At these levels, it is not clear what services are being contracted for these tremendous costs, which are recurrent in nature, and why,” he said.

The governorship aspirant said Lagos State’s transparency record had worsened despite rising revenues following subsidy removal and currency devaluation.

“It is worrying that, generally, transparency is an area where the Lagos State Government is decidedly lagging behind,” Doherty said.

He also alleged that details of contract awards were no longer being published by the state’s Public Procurement Agency, “as required by law.”

On spending priorities, Doherty argued that the state had persistently underinvested in social sectors critical to human development.

“Over a five-year period, combined expenditure on education, health, housing development and water supply amounted to just 17 per cent of total government expenditure,” he said.

“In a young population with the demographic characteristics of Lagos, education and health should receive closer to 15 per cent each.”

He described it as “alarming” that the 2025 capital expenditure allocation for the Lagos State House of Assembly alone exceeded allocations to both the health and education sectors combined.

“The effects of this sustained underinvestment are evident,” Doherty added, citing public school examination failures, housing deficits and under-five mortality rates.

Doherty also criticised what he called a pattern of unrealistic revenue projections in Lagos budgets.

“At N4.237tn, the overall proposed 2026 budget continues the predictable trend of unrealistic projections,” he said.

He noted that as of September 2025, actual revenues stood at N2.07tn, compared with a full-year projection of N3.37tn.

“Unrealistic revenue budgeting undermines effective planning, prioritisation and implementation of government programmes,” he said.

While acknowledging what he described as modest improvements in budgeting practices, Doherty urged the House of Assembly to insist on greater openness.

“I reiterate my call for the details of the 2026 and subsequent LASG budget proposals to be made publicly available as part of the legislative process prior to passage into law,” he said.

The Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Media and Publicity, Gboyega Akosile, could not be reached for comment as his line was not connecting as of press time.

Gbenga has been covering Metro, politics and education beats for two years as a print and digital journalist

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