A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has rejected an invitation from the Lagos Water Corporation (LWC) to discuss its proposed pilot Public Private Partnership (PPP) project, saying the process falls short of genuine stakeholder engagement.
In a letter dated September 17, 2025, and addressed to LWC Managing Director Engr. Mukhtaar Tijani, the groups: Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI), Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF), Environmental Defenders Network (EDEN), Child Health Organisation, Ecumenical Water Network Africa/Blue Communities Africa (EWNA/BCA), and New Life Community Care Initiative (NELCCI), said the planned meeting does not address their longstanding concerns about the PPP.
“We observe that the stated objectives of this meeting do not address the concerns we raised at the September 9, 2025 meeting with the Lagos House of Assembly where we expressed disinterest in the PPP as the silver bullet to the Lagos water crisis,” the CSOs wrote in the letter sighted by Pan-Atlantic Kompass.
Reiterating their stance, the groups stressed: “Our position which was clearly stated to the House members in the presence of the LWC officials in attendance is that the Corporation should convene a genuine stakeholder engagement with a wide spectrum of stakeholders where options for addressing the water crisis including the Public-Public Partnership model can be discussed with a view to adopting democratic control of water.”
The organisations also drew attention to the Lagos State House of Assembly’s call for wider consultation. “Recall, the Chair of the Committee on Environment (Parastatal), Hon. Shabi Rasheed Adekola at the meeting mentioned the deficit in stakeholder consultation and the need to address it. In doing that, we anticipated an open-ended meeting, not a closed space which this proposed meeting represents,” the letter read.
The groups declared that: “In view of the above we respectfully decline this invitation and urge the LWC management to heed the advice of the House by convening a truly people-focused consultation where civil society and other stakeholders in Lagos can express their views and make propositions.”
The dispute over the PPP comes amid intensifying debates over solving Lagos water crisis.
Earlier this month, Pan-Atlantic Kompass had reported that the Lagos State House of Assembly promised to investigate the billions allocated to the water sector in the past decade after activists questioned why access to potable water remained limited despite repeated budgetary provisions.
Civil society coalitions have consistently warned that privatization could worsen inequality, limit access for low-income households, and undermine the right to water.
The Lagos Water Corporation, however, has argued that private sector participation is necessary to bridge the financing gap and upgrade infrastructure. But the CSOs are insisting on a Public-Public partnership to uphold the human right of Lagosians to public water in line with UN’s Article 11 & 12 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).
