Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, the Labour Party candidate for governor of Lagos State in 2023, has revealed how Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the state governor, spent more than N1bn on helicopter service in a single month.
According to Rhodes-Vivour, Sanwo-Olu hire helicopter for N1,039,875,000 in April 2022.
He stated this in a post shared on his X handle on Tuesday.
He added that the governor spent N512,000,000 on the same service in July and August 2023.
“In April 2022 alone, the Lagos state government spent N1,039,875,000 on helicopter charter service for Mr. Governor’s regular traveling. In July and August 2023, it spent N512,000,000 on the same helicopters,” he stated.
He questioned why the state would allocate nearly N2bn in three months for helicopter charter services for the governor while some areas in the state still lack access to clean water.
“Should Lagos be spending close to N2 billion in just three months transporting the governor in a private helicopter when most parts of his primary constituency in Lagos Island do not have portable water running from their taps?” he queried.
Speaking further, Rhodes-Vivour stated that N1.2bn could pay 1,000 teachers N100,000 monthly for a year.
He said a government led by him would use drones instead of helicopters for project supervision to save the state’s resources.
“A Rhodes-Vivour government will use drones as opposed to helicopters for project supervision. This will save the state funds that will be put towards human capital development.
“E.g. With N1.2 billion, we can pay 1,000 teachers N100,000/month for a year. This will bring us closer to our goal of achieving the best public primary and secondary school education system in the country.
“A Rhodes-Vivour government will not pay for officials to travel on private Jets. Any official that intends to fly private will pay privately,” Rhodes-Vivour added.
When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to the state governor, Gboyega Akosile, did not respond to the phone calls and text messages sent to his phone as of the time of filing this report.