Monorail Budget Controversy: BudgIT Demands Explanation from Lagos State Government

A non-governmental organization, BudgIT, is asking the Lagos State Government to explain discrepancies existing between the figure (USD$182m) contained in a 2010 report by, China Railway Construction Corporation, the company in charge of Lagos light rail project otherwise known as Lagos monorail, as published on the company’s website, and the officially acclaimed figure by the Lagos State government, which puts the project cost at USD$1.2bn.

A recent statement signed by the organization’s Communications Lead, Adeniyi Soleye, says BudgIT is seriously concerned about the discrepancy between the two figures adding that ambiguities of this nature would not have occurred if the state government yielded to demands by BudgiT and tax payers for transparency to end budget secrecy.

According to the statement, Lagos residents deserve to know full details of how state resources are being used by the government.

‘’Aside from the monorail, we reiterate our concern about the same opacity that plaques toll gates operation and large constructions in Lagos. Same goes to the abject lack of transparency in the procurement process, an impenetrable system which has ring-fenced public funds around private interests,’’ the statement noted.

Lekki Toll-gate

BudgIT is a civic organization that applies technology to intersect citizen engagement with institutional improvement, to facilitate societal change.

It uses a collection of technological tools to simplify the budget and matters of public spending for citizens, with the primary aim of raising the standard of transparency and accountability in government