Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called on Lagos State Government to immediately suspend the mini and micro waterworks Public Private Partnership (PPP) procurement until full compliance with statutory disclosure obligations is achieved.
It also demanded prompt publication of all outstanding procurement documents, including feasibility studies, RFP documentation, bidder identities and track records, and evaluation criteria.
CAPPA made the call in a statement issued Sunday by its Media and Communications Officer, Robert Egbe.
It alleged that the deliberate non-disclosure surrounding the plan to privatise public water supply through PPP arrangements not only contravenes mandatory transparency requirements under Lagos laws but also erodes accountability in the governance of a vital public resource.
TheHintsNews reports that the LWC issued a tender in September last year, inviting proposals from private firms for the rehabilitation, upgrade, operation, and maintenance of multiple public water facilities across the state.
This included Lekki and Akilo Waterworks, Victoria Island Annex and Magodo Waterworks, Abesan and Alexander Waterworks, and Apapa Waterworks.
CAPPA, however, condemned the significant procedural violations in the Lagos Water Corporation’s (LWC) ongoing procurement process for mini and micro water works under a Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer (BFOT) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model.
It said while Lagos State PPP Disclosure Framework (2024) expressly mandates proactive public disclosure at every stage of PPP projects, the LWC has continued to conduct mini and micro waterworks procurement in secrecy.
CAPPA emphasised that the secrecy surrounding the mini and micro waterworks PPP was a substantive governance failure with direct implications for affordability, access, and long-term public control of water services.
It noted that the only substantive public information about the procurement so far has emerged through a paywalled foreign industry publication, Global Water Intelligence.
It stressed that it was Global Water Intelligence that reported that the LWC received 19 proposals by October 2025 and expected to conclude awards by March 2026 for a 10-year deal.
It added: “In February 2026, CAPPA also learned through foreign news that Lagos State has initiated a parallel process to privatise wastewater infrastructure, beginning with wastewater treatment plants, including facilities in Lekki.”
“It is disturbing that residents of Lagos and affected communities must rely on an expensive foreign subscription journal to learn about decisions concerning their own public water and sanitation systems, while their government and its water agency refuse to disclose the same information domestically.”
“The Lagos State Government and certain international organisations actively supporting this approach and governance model continue to disregard disclosure and accountability standards with impunity in Nigeria.
“The Lagos State Government should immediately suspend the mini and micro waterworks PPP procurement until full compliance with statutory disclosure obligations is achieved, alongside the prompt publication of all outstanding procurement documents, including feasibility studies, RFP documentation, bidder identities and track records, and evaluation criteria.
“There should be an independent review and oversight to safeguard procedural integrity and public interest, as well as genuine public engagement and stakeholder consultation in all decisions concerning water governance and infrastructure management in Lagos State.
“Finally, the state must urgently correct the brazen and ongoing violations of its own transparency framework.”