Laja Adeoye, Allied Peoples Movement (APM) governorship candidate in Lagos State, has pledged to publish line-by-line annual budgets and submit state finances to external auditors.
Speaking at a BusinessDay Town Hall held at NBCC Plaza, Adeoye stated that fiscal transparency formed the primary social contract with residents. He noted that citizens had to know how much revenue the state generated before they could hold the government accountable for expenditure.
Adeoye stated that his administration would not prepare any budget without prior stakeholder engagement across local governments. He added that an external audit system was critical to verify published income and expenditure figures rather than relying solely on internal government disclosures.
Expanding public scrutiny and digitalisation
Adeoye stated that public scrutiny should extend beyond internally generated revenue to cover the state’s entire budget, which stands at about N1.4-trillion. He criticised existing state procurement portals, saying many were non-functional and lacked public data.
To resolve these issues, he proposed establishing an equity commission and achieving full government digitalisation. Under his 165-page manifesto which covers mobility, housing, and climate resilience—every policy target would be tracked on a public dashboard over four years.
Reforming healthcare and urban infrastructure
Beyond fiscal reforms, Adeoye targeted gaps in the primary healthcare system, pledging to establish functional clinics across every electoral ward. Describing good health as the foundation of wealth creation, he linked local medical infrastructure directly to economic productivity.
“Healthcare is one of our goals in our manifesto,” Adeoye said. “We would localise healthcare in every ward because healthcare in Lagos is not working.”
Separately, Africa Democratic Congress governorship contender Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour called for micro-health insurance schemes and preventive medicine frameworks. He noted that low-income earners required reliable financial protection to avoid severe poverty during medical emergencies. Expanding routine screenings and community health initiatives, he said, would reduce the burden on public hospitals and cut long-term state expenditure.
Meanwhile, the Lagos State government is advancing its urban development strategy by building 21 housing estates across locations including Ajah, Epe, and Ibeshe.
Under the leadership of Deputy Governor Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat, the administration is formalising the property sector to provide reliable mortgages and reduce processing costs. By digitalising land and housing administration, the state aims to remove bureaucratic bottlenecks and ease homeownership for residents
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Athekame Kenneth is a politics, economy, and finance reporter whose work is anchored in sharp investigative storytelling. He brings analytical depth to every piece, drawing on a strong academic foundation that includes a degree in Economics, an MBA in International Trade, and a minor in Petroleum Economics from Lagos State University, Ojo. His reporting blends rigorous research with a keen eye for hidden truths, delivering stories that illuminate power, policy, and the forces shaping everyday lives.
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