Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has commended the Lagos State Government for making significant strides towards funding critical water infrastructure across the state, particularly the Adiyan II Water Treatment Plant.
CAPPA in a statement made over the weekend by itโs Media & Communications Officer Robert Egbe, said the steady progress on the project 12 years in the making, demonstrates that state-led and funded solutions remain the best pathway to expanding public water supply and achieving universal access to clean, safe, and affordable water for Lagosians.
According to reports from Governor Babajide Sanwo-Oluโs recent visit to the facility, Adiyan II is now 80 percent complete and remains on track for its 2027 completion timeline. In a further show of commitment, the state government has allocated an additional โฆ20 billion in its 2025 fiscal budget to settle โoutstanding liabilitiesโ for the project.
While CAPPA commended the stateโs efforts, it urged it not to hand over Lagosโ water sector to private profiteers once these projects are completed.
The statement emphasised that privatising Lagosโ water supply would undermine the massive investments already made by the state.
โWe strongly urge the Lagos State Government to resist any temptation to privatise or concession the Adiyan II project and other water treatment facilities across the state. Water is not a commodity to be sold to the highest bidder. If Adiyan II or any other public water facility is handed over to private corporations, Lagosians will sufferโhigher tariffs, restricted access, and corporate exploitation,โ the nongovernmental organisation warned.
CAPPA cited failed privatisation experiments across Africa, where foreign-backed water projects collapsed due to skyrocketing costs, contract failures, and profit-driven policies that left millions without access to clean water.
Furthermore, CAPPA pointed to the recent withdrawal of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from Lagosโ water sector as a critical lesson.
โWhat is happening with USAID is a textbook example of why governments should never outsource critical infrastructure to external financiers with hidden agendas.
โThe Lagos State Government must recognise this as a blessing in disguise and take full control of its water sector rather than leaving it vulnerable to shifting donor priorities, where financial commitments are subject to geopolitical agendas, austerity measures, and changing domestic policies in donor countries, all of which can leave both governments and communities stranded,โ said Akinbode Oluwafemi, CAPPAโs Executive Director.
Under the 2021 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Lagos State and USAID, no fewer than five mini waterworks were slated for rehabilitation with private sector involvement as a key component. However, USAIDโs abrupt withdrawal of funding, driven by upheavals and funding cutbacks within the U.S. government, has laid bare the dangers of relying on external entities to provide essential public services. Beyond the immediate financial shortfall, this exit creates even deeper risks, leaving policy vacuums, stalling critical projects, and ultimately weakening local decision-making power over vital utilities.
With USAID gone, the Lagos Water Corporationโs Managing Director, Engr. Mukthar Tijjani has confirmed that the state is now seeking funding from other international agencies, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Franceโs Agence Franรงaise de Dรฉveloppement (AFD), to sustain water infrastructure projects. CAPPA raised the alarm about this development, warning that these financial institutions have a long history of imposing harsh commercial conditions on public utilities.
โJICA and AFD have a track record of attaching dangerous conditions to their loans and grantsโcost-recovery tariffs, bulk water purchase agreements, and privatisation clauses and mandates that prioritise corporate profits over public welfare. AFD, in particular, has close ties to Suez, a corporation notorious for its aggressive pro-privatisation stance and the devastation it leaves in its wake. If Lagos aligns itself with these buccaneers, residents will soon be burdened with unaffordable water tariffs while the state loses control over its own infrastructure,โ CAPPA cautioned.
CAPPA encouraged Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to not be discouraged with the withdrawal of USAID but to rather treat it as a blessing in disguise and make history by keeping Lagosโ water under full public control.
โThis is a defining moment. Lagos has the opportunity to lead Africaโs water justice cause by rejecting privatisation and strengthening its public water systems. As Engr. Mukthar rightly acknowledged in an interview on this matter, โโฆwe need to rely on the state government moreโฆ it is more predictableโฆโ โunlike funding from external sources.
โThe state must invest in the Lagos Water Corporation and the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, to enhance their operational efficiency, and ensure transparency in the sector rather than handing over control to foreign profiteers. The decisions made today will determine whether water remains a public good accessible to all Lagosians, or whether it becomes a luxury available only to those who can afford it,โ the statement concluded.
CAPPA urged Lagosians to remain vigilant and demand that their government prioritise people over profit.
