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General News of Monday, 22 June 2020

Source: www.mynigeria.com

Sanwo-Olu sacks LAWMA contractors over fraud

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has approved the sack of some Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) contractors for violating some terms of their agreement with the government.

This comes after reports stated that the Lagos State was being defrauded of millions of naira in a scheme involving LAWMA contractors.

The contractors, many of whom are politicians, allegedly inflated the wage bills of the street sweepers and supervisors under them.

The Lagos State Government reportedly pays the contractors over N560m monthly, The Punch reveals.

However, a 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.

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.

LAWMA, in a statement, said those indicted in the audit had been asked to go.

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.”

While no form of punishment was listed, it maintained that all employees of the affected companies could re-apply directly to the authority for employment consideration.