The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, has strongly criticised the Lagos State Government’s decision to introduce a Public-Private Partnership, PPP, in the water sector, describing the move as a betrayal of residents’ right to safe, affordable, and publicly managed water.
This comes just a day after the Lagos Water Corporation, LWC, defended its recently announced PPP pilot scheme, which it said was aimed at expanding potable water access across the state.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, CAPPA dismissed a two-day advocacy workshop convened last week by LWC as nothing more than a “sham public relations exercise.”
The workshop, themed “Attracting Investment for Improved Water Supply in Lagos through Public-Private Partnership,” had seen members of the State House of Assembly pledge to fast-track legal amendments to secure investor confidence. Officials from the state’s Office of Public-Private Partnerships also confirmed that the initiative would mark the “first concession” of water infrastructure, starting with a pilot covering about 10 percent of state-owned assets.
But CAPPA insisted the government’s statements expose the dangers ahead. According to the group, the plan suggests “water will no longer be recognised as a human right but will instead be reduced to a financial asset securitised for the comfort of investors.”
The organisation argued that Lagos’ push for water privatisation is not new, noting that “for over a decade, successive administrations have attempted to hand over essential services to corporate profiteers, shifting the burden of cost and access onto already overburdened residents.”
Responding to LWC’s claim that CAPPA had deliberately refused to attend the workshop, the group said its decision was intentional, stressing it would not “rubber-stamp a fait accompli.
“What was presented as a stakeholder engagement forum took place only after the government had already issued a Request for Proposals (RFP CAPPA Rejects Lagos Water PPP Plan, Calls Move ‘Anti-People’”.
The group maintained that genuine consultation must come before, not after, major investment commitments are made.
“By inviting bids first before democratic consultation, the Lagos State Government has demonstrated contempt for accountability and treated residents as afterthoughts,” the statement added.
