On Friday evening, Funso Doherty, the 2023 Lagos governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), published records of Lagos State’s expenditures in Q2 and Q3 of 2023.

Among the records published was a June 16, 2023 payment by Tayo Ayinde, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s chief of staff, to Adebiyi Lateef Adebowale, a 33-year-old Lagos resident, for the replacement of liquid fragrance in Sanwo-Olu’s office.

Ayinde paid Adebowale’s ARC44 Global Enterprises a sum of N7,475,000. He also paid the business the sum of N2,300,000 for “production of telephone directory pamphlet of divisional police officers (DPOs) and emergency response agencies in Lagos State”, according to records released by the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency.

Both payments were made on June 16 to the same business, and both amount to N9,775,000.

On Monday, FIJ visited ARC44 Global Enterprises’ registered address to see what this business was into and find out how Adebowale secured the contract to deliver fragrances and pamphlets.

‘NA MECHANIC HE BE’

When FIJ visited the Bariga area of the state, we searched for businesses matching the name the state government paid to, but this effort bore no fruits.

After making our way to 10 Ayoola Lawal Street, we met an aged woman who operated a kiosk in front of the building, but this woman knew no one bearing Adebowale. She also did not know any business called ARC44 Global Enterprises.

We circled round 10A and 10B but got no result. When we returned to the woman in front of her kiosk, she requested a description of the man, and we gave his full name, business name and the contracts the state government paid him for.

“Lati? Na mechanic he be o!” she exclaimed in Pidgin English. “We know am here as Adebiyi Lati. Na very quiet boy. He no de print or sell anything. Na mechanic. Printing press no de here.”

READ MORE: REVEALED: Sanwo-Olu Violated Procurement Law by Paying N7.475m to 4-Month-Old Business to Supply Liquid Fragrance

Lati was not home at the time of our visit, as another resident would confirm to us. No one would give us their names or numbers, but they took ours.

In the evening, Lati called us to find out why we were looking for him. In the guise of wanting to order flyers and pamphlets, we asked him if he could produce 1,000 wedding flyers, and if he had supplied pamphlets to police DPOs as claimed on the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency (LASPPA) website.

“I will produce it for you; no problem,” Lati told us when we asked if he could produce for us. When we asked if he produced pamphlets for the police, he said, “Pamphlets for DPOs? No o!”

We asked of his fragrance contract, and he replied, “Why are you asking these types of questions?” He dropped the call afterward.

Above is an excerpt from the LASPPA showing Lati was paid N2,300,000 on June 16 to produce telephone directory pamphlets of DPOs and emergency response agencies in Lagos State.

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He told us he did not produce anything of such nature. When we tried calling him back, he was busy on another call. We tried some more, and he finally responded.

He refused to comment on whether he was a mechanic or not, but he said he owned the business.

“All the contracts were issued by the procurement agency and were delivered,” he told us. “Go and meet them if you have any questions,” he said.

On Monday, FIJ called Gboyega Akosile, Chief Press Secretary to the Lagos State Governor. He said, “Nothing is perfect. Lagos State tries its best, and among the 36 states, we try our best to meet the procurement requirements. Show me another state that meets the procurement law.”

We shared our findings, and he denied them. “No contractor would speak with you,” he said. “Maybe you got the wrong person. Take the procurement agency to court and see. The business is four months old, but there are ways procurement people do their thing and they would tell you there is a clause that allows them give contracts to any business. You can open a business today and get a contract. Those fragrances cost about $1,000 per one, and they got about eight of them.

“The governor’s office is not just his house he sleeps in Lagos. His residence in Abuja, Marina, Alausa, G.R.A. and other offices are all governor’s office. If they bought and put in all those offices, then I don’t think it is anything.”