The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has come out strongly against the Lagos State Government’s push to privatise water supply through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), labelling the move as a “betrayal” of residents' right to safe and affordable water.
In a statement, the advocacy group lambasted the state for a "sham public relations exercise" designed to push a predetermined agenda.
CAPPA's criticism follows a two-day advocacy workshop organised by the Lagos Water Corporation (LWC) aimed at promoting the state's PPP water plan.
The group argued that the workshop, themed ‘Attracting Investment for Improved Water Supply in Lagos State’, was a hollow effort to legitimise a policy that had already been decided.
"What was presented as a stakeholder meeting in fact took place only after the State had already issued a Request for Proposals (RFP No. LSWC/BFOT/001/2025)," CAPPA’s statement read.
According to the CAPPA Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, the government's approach shows contempt for accountability by treating residents as afterthoughts.
The group’s statement highlighted that genuine public engagement should precede, not follow, major policy and investment commitments.
"We therefore reject both the process and its underlying premise. The privatisation of Lagos water is a step in the wrong direction, and we refuse to legitimise a predetermined outcome that undermines public interest,” Oluwafemi said.
The rights group pointed out that this is not the first time Lagos has conducted such processes behind closed doors.
They cited similar instances, including a recent Memorandum of Understanding signed with US-based Belstar Capital and Turkish firm ENKA, and the launch of the Lagos Water Partnership.
In both cases, CAPPA noted, the government failed to provide residents with meaningful details on the scope of work or contractual terms, a pattern that points to a singular policy shift toward PPPs with no room for alternatives.
CAPPA also directly countered claims by LWC Managing Director, Mukhtaar Tijani, who has reportedly argued that a PPP is not privatisation.
The group clarified that privatisation is not limited to an outright sale but includes concessions, leases, and the Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (BFOT) model the state is pursuing.
"Even when legal ownership remains with the state, operational control, tariffs, and workforce decisions are surrendered to private operators whose first obligation is to profit," CAPPA argued.
The group pointed to the mass sacking of over 800 LWC workers last year as a prime example of the negative outcomes of this model.
The organisation further debunked Tijani's claims of successful PPPs in other African nations like Rwanda, South Africa, and Morocco, arguing that evidence points to widespread failure and public backlash in these regions.
CAPPA noted that while Lagos insists on pursuing a failed model, cities worldwide like Paris, Berlin, and Buenos Aires, after their own costly experiments with private concessions, are now working to undo them by remunicipalising their water systems.
Instead of privatisation, CAPPA urges the Lagos State Government to embrace the global trend of remunicipalisation.
The group demanded that the state immediately halt the ongoing PPP scheme, withdraw its current RFP, fully disclose all existing agreements with private investors, and initiate a truly open dialogue.
It also called for increased budgetary allocations for water infrastructure and the exploration of public-public partnerships that treat water as a shared public good rather than a private commodity.
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