Lagos State Government terminated the contracts of some operators with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) on Sundays. The said operators allegedly violated some terms of their agreement with the Government.
The contractors, many of whom are politicians, allegedly inflated the wage bills of the street sweepers and supervisors under them. It was reliable gathered that the Lagos State Government pays the contractors over N560m monthly. Preliminary report of an ongoing audit of the agency revealed that a huge chunk of the money was going to ghost workers and non-existent contractors.
In a statement issued by LAWMA, those indicted in the audit had been asked to go. In a swift reaction to this development, the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership had called for the involvement of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission. However, the government did not say if anyone would be prosecuted.
The statement said, “The Lagos State Waste Management Authority has announced the immediate termination of all street-sweeping briefs awarded to some companies found involved in practices violating their contracts.
“The agency also revealed that the recent audit exercise approved by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu exposed the sharp practices of the agents, assuring that services will be repositioned for greater efficiency and value for tax-payers’ money.”
The government noted that the termination of the contracts was informed by established cases of unethical behaviour. It maintained that all employees of the affected companies could re-apply directly to the authority for employment consideration
The State Government also informed that as part of LAWMA’s rebranding process and efforts to sanitise operations, the management had approved the restoration of single apparel as a uniform for all street sweepers for easy identification of genuine workers.
