A Lagos State governorship aspirant for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Funso Doherty, has criticized the N4.237 trillion 2026 budget proposal presented by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, claiming it suffers from inaccuracies, poor fiscal transparency, and questionable spending priorities.
In an open letter dated December 11, 2025, to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, which has since passed the bill for a second reading, Doherty urged clarification on several flaws before the bill is approved.
He argued that the headline figures are incorrectly presented, noting that the recurrent expenditure of N2.052 trillion includes about N383 billion for debt servicing, which he believes should be classified as capital expenditure. This alleged misclassification, he stated, distorts the true sizes of both the recurrent and capital budgets. Doherty also highlighted internal inconsistency, pointing out that the sum of sectoral allocations is approximately N3.4 trillion, significantly lower than the total budget figure of N4.237 trillion.
Beyond numerical discrepancies, Doherty faulted the government’s transparency, claiming that detailed budget proposals are not made public until after passage, which limits public review. He also raised concerns over the scale of spending on consultancy and professional services, which he claimed accounts for nearly 15 per cent of total recurrent expenditure, questioning the justification for such a large recurring cost. He further accused the state of backsliding on transparency by allegedly no longer routinely publishing contract awards.
Regarding priorities, the aspirant argued that key social sectors have been consistently underfunded, stating that combined spending on education, health, housing, and water supply accounted for only 17 per cent of total expenditure over a five-year period. He found it alarming that the 2025 capital allocation for the Lagos State House of Assembly reportedly surpassed the combined allocations for health and education. Doherty linked this underinvestment to poor outcomes in public schools, persistent housing shortages, and high under-five mortality rates.
Finally, he criticized the budget’s revenue assumptions as overly optimistic, noting that as of September 2025, actual revenues were N2.07 trillion against a full-year projection of N3.37 trillion, asserting that “persistent overestimation of revenue undermines effective planning.” Doherty urged the House of Assembly to demand that detailed budget proposals be made publicly available during the legislative process. Efforts to get a response from the Governor’s office were unsuccessful.
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