The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA has faulted the Lagos State Government’s plan to privatise water supply through a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), describing the move as anti-people and a betrayal of residents’ right to affordable and publicly managed water.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, CAPPA dismissed last week’s two-day advocacy workshop organised by the Lagos Water Corporation (LWC) as a “sham public relations exercise,” accusing the state of pushing a predetermined agenda.
The workshop, themed “Attracting Investment for Improved Water Supply in Lagos State through Public-Private Partnership,” drew pledges from members of the Lagos State House of Assembly to fast-track legal amendments protecting private investors. The state’s Office of Public-Private Partnerships disclosed that the plan would begin with a pilot concession covering about 10 percent of water assets.
Reacting, CAPPA’s Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, said the development signals a troubling shift. “Water will no longer be recognised as a human right but reduced to a financial asset securitised for the comfort of investors,” he warned.
CAPPA argued that successive Lagos administrations have long sought to privatise essential services, transferring costs to residents. The group criticised the government for issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) before engaging the public, saying genuine consultation should precede major commitments.
It also raised concerns about previous water sector deals, including the April 2025 Memorandum of Understanding with US-based Belstar Capital and Turkish firm ENKA, as well as the 2024 launch of the Lagos Water Partnership. According to CAPPA, both lacked transparency and failed to provide feasibility studies or safeguards for public interest.
The organisation further countered claims by LWC Managing Director, Mukhtaar Tijani, that PPPs are not privatisation. CAPPA maintained that concessions, leases, and Build-Finance-Operate-Transfer models amount to privatisation, citing the sack of over 800 LWC workers last year as evidence of its adverse impacts.
Drawing on examples from across Africa and beyond, CAPPA said similar PPP models had failed in Rwanda, South Africa, Morocco, and even the United Kingdom, where water privatisation has been blamed for tariff hikes, underinvestment, and sewage crises.
“Cities like Paris, Berlin, Buenos Aires, and Jakarta that once embraced private concessions have since reversed them. Lagos, instead of learning, is choosing to repeat the same mistakes,” Oluwafemi stated.
As an alternative, CAPPA called on the Lagos State Government to increase budgetary allocations for water infrastructure, strengthen public capacity, and explore public-public partnerships. It demanded an immediate halt to the current PPP scheme, withdrawal of the RFP, full disclosure of existing agreements, and a transparent dialogue on sustainable water solutions.