By Bunmi Yekini
Six civil society organisations have petitioned the Lagos State House of Assembly, urging lawmakers to stop ongoing privatisation moves being pushed by the Lagos Water Corporation (LWC) through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
The groups – Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF), Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), Child Health Organisation, New Life Community Care Initiative (NELCCI), and Ecumenical Water Network Africa/Blue Communities Africa (EWNA/BCA), accused the LWC of attempting to impose privatisation on Lagosians under the guise of a public consultation.
Their petition follows a stakeholders’ engagement session organised by LWC on August 15, 2025, at Protea Hotel, Ikeja, with support from WaterAid. The forum was meant to rally private financing for Lagos’ water infrastructure and canvass public buy-in for the PPP project.
But the petitioners dismissed the engagement as a “sham exercise.”
“The event was portrayed as public participation in decision-making when, in reality, it was designed to ram privatisation down the throats of Lagosians,” the groups said in the petition.
They also expressed concern over remarks by the Chairman of the Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Information, Hon. Steven Ogundipe, who reportedly pledged “swift legislative backing” for the PPP project.
“The speed with which the Assembly appears to be supporting privatisation, despite widespread public rejection, is deeply troubling,” the groups noted.
The petitioners pointed to the privatisation failures in the United Kingdom as a cautionary tale. According to a 2024 report by the University of Greenwich’s Public Services International Research Unit (PSIRU), investors in England and Wales’ privatised water sector withdrew over £85.2 billion in profits in three decades, leaving behind chronic underinvestment.
“Privatisation has failed elsewhere, yet the IFC and donors continue to peddle it as a success story,” the groups argued.
Beyond opposing privatisation, the coalition accused the Lagos government of poor oversight in the water sector. They called for investigations into billions of naira allegedly mismanaged or wasted on water projects since 1999, including:
N4 billion for Otta-Ikosi waterworks (2007)
N3 billion on an Independent Power Plant (with an additional N180 million monthly fuel cost)
N897 million for rehabilitation of Iju and Adiyan Waterworks
N2.7 billion for Ishasi Waterworks
N950 million for water treatment chemicals in 2023
N1.2 billion budgeted for chemicals in 2024
“Public funding can turn around the fortunes of LWC if monies already voted for water supply are used transparently and effectively,” the groups insisted.
They urged the Assembly to probe all past contracts, recover diverted funds, blacklist culpable contractors, and strengthen oversight mechanisms.
As alternatives, the groups called for adoption of the Public-Public-Partnership (PuP) model, which has reportedly worked in other countries, alongside increased budgetary allocation to water infrastructure.
“Our demand is simple: halt privatisation plans, end partnerships that seek to foist this failed model on Lagosians, and ensure water remains a public good,” the petition read.