A gubernatorial candidate for the Labour Party in the 2023 Lagos State governorship election, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has alleged that the State’s current Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, spent over a billion Naira on helicopter services within a month.
According to Rhodes-Vivour, the governor spent N1,039,875,000 on helicopter charter services in April 2022 alone, while N512,000,000 was spent on the same service in July and August 2023.
Rhodes-Vivour questioned the justification for spending almost N2bn within three months on helicopter charter services for the governor, particularly when some areas in the state lack access to clean water.
He further stated that his government would implement the use of drones for project supervision instead of helicopters, as a more cost-effective measure for the state’s resources. All this was revealed in a post shared by Rhodes-Vivour via his verified X handle.
According to him, N1.2bn can pay 1,000 teachers N100,000 monthly for a year.
“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.
“A Rhodes-Vivour government will use Drones, as opposed to helicopters for project supervisions. 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.
