Lagos State House of Assembly spent N36.78 million on the construction of visitors’ toilets in 2023, a budget document has revealed. But the Assembly is not done as it plans to spend an additional N50 million on the same project in 2024, according to budget documents sighted by The Guardian.
In the first document, between January and September 2023, which is the first three quarters of the year, the Assembly spent N12.71 million on the construction of toilets for visitors.
In the second document, between October and December 2023, which is the fourth quarter of the year, it spent N24.07 million on the construction of toilets for visitors.
The documents showed that N50 million was appropriated in the 2023 budget for the construction of the toilets, but N36.78 million was what was released for the project, which means the project recorded a 73.6 per cent budget performance.
The Guardian gathered from sources in the Assembly that there are no less than five spots within the complex where toilet facilities are available for visitors. They, therefore, wondered why the Assembly needed to construct additional toilets for visitors again.
According to the sources, there are dedicated visitors’ toilets within the building housing lawmakers’ offices called the legislators’ wing. It was gathered that on every floor of the five-storey building, there is at least one female and male toilet each. This implies that there are 12 toilets within the building alone.
Aside from the toilet facilities within the legislators’ wing of the Assembly complex, the sources also said there are toilet facilities for visitors within the Speaker’s floor, legislative chamber, Assembly’s security post, mosque, chapel and gym. In all, from the source’s explanations, there are six points already within the Assembly complex where there are toilet facilities for visitors.
Findings from the sources further revealed that no project as visitors’ toilet is at present being executed by the Assembly even though the Assembly claimed it had spent about N36.7 million for the construction of toilet facilities in 2023 with an additional provision of N50 million in the 2024 budget.
Meanwhile, when contacted, the Chairman, House Committee on Information, Stephen Ogundipe, claimed he was on medical leave and could not speak, asking that the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker should be contacted.
When he was told that the issue was about the Assembly and not the Speaker, he still maintained that he would not speak as he was on medical leave. He also declined to suggest a member of his committee to comment on his behalf.
Thereafter, the Clerk of the House, Olalekan Onafeko, when contacted, denied knowledge of the additional visitors’ toilets, urging The Guardian to do an independent investigation of the claim.
He said: “I do not know about that. You can come to see by yourself. We have sufficient toilets in the Assembly complex. Where would they even build it? That is a false claim.”
“I do not want you to take my word for it. You can come to the Assembly as construction is not something that is hidden, it is either built against an existing structure or built as a standalone. Whichever one it is, it will be conspicuous,” he said.(Guardian)
