Echotitbits – Nigeria News

Tag: Lagos Government

  • Lagos scraps Greater Lagos Fiesta hours to New Year, urges residents to pray

    Lagos scraps Greater Lagos Fiesta hours to New Year, urges residents to pray

    2025-12-31 09:21:00

    Figures cited by PUNCH show the Lagos State Government called off the Greater Lagos Fiesta 2025 scheduled for December 31, directing residents to mark the period with personal prayers for the nation and the state instead.

    The decision was communicated in a statement attributed to the governor’s media team, positioning the cancellation as a shift from mass celebration to reflection and prayer ahead of 2026.

    The annual event is one of Lagos’ flagship end‑of‑year entertainment programmes, so the abrupt cancellation has sparked debate in the city’s creative economy and among residents.

    Vanguard reported that the government “announced the cancellation of the 2025 Greater Lagos Fiesta,” while Guardian Life quoted the statement: “Lagos State Government cancels Greater Lagos Fiesta 2025.”

    Echotitbits take: The optics matter—Lagos is Nigeria’s entertainment capital and the fiesta is a tourism/creative‑economy signal. Watch whether the state replaces the lost economic activity with alternative programmes, and whether security or governance concerns drove the decision.

    Source: The Punch — December 31, 2025 (https://punchng.com/lagos-cancels-greater-lagos-fiesta-2025/)

    The Punch December 31, 2025

    Photo Credit: The Punch

  • COVID-19 Palliatives Warehouse Break-In: Government is Wicked – Maza Maza Resident

    COVID-19 Palliatives Warehouse Break-In: Government is Wicked – Maza Maza Resident

    A resident of Monkey Village, Maza maza, in Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos State has accused the government of concealing CACOVID COVID-19 palliatives, which was meant to be distributed to cushion the effect of COVID-19 lockdown on the vulnerable poor resident of the state in a warehouse.

    The Leadership reported that Abiodun, who was among many residents of the area that stormed the warehouse to cart away food items said: “These Lagos State Government people are wicked, we are dying of hunger, they kept this food stuff here since May, waiting for everything to die down and they will go and sell and pocket the money. We were begging them and they refused, so when they left we broke into the warehouse. We can’t kill ourselves.”

    There was stampede in the warehouse as the residents scrambled for the food items which were labeled ‘CACOVID, NOT FOR SALE,’ including mini bags of rice, macaroni, spaghetti, salt, garri, sugar and cartons of noodles.

    In a swift reaction, the Lagos State government condemned the vandalism of the warehouse at Maza Maza housing the food palliative packages donated to the state government by the Private Sector Coalition against COVID-19 (CACOVID) group.

    According to the state’s acting commissioner of Agriculture, Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu had on September 22nd 2020 formally taken receipt of the food palliatives from the CACOVID team meant for distribution to the indigent.

    The state government noted that the warehouse in question was not state-owned and its usage was made available to the CACOVID group, adding that the state government had been allowed to commence re-bagging of food items allotted to it from the quantities meant for South- West states.

    The commissioner said the re-bagging was being done to account for each beneficiary receipt, as was required and monitored by the CACOVID team, Leadership newspaper reported.

  • Lagos Government Dissociates Self from Hoodlums who Attacked Protesters

    Lagos Government Dissociates Self from Hoodlums who Attacked Protesters

    The Lagos State Goverent has dissociated itself from hoodlums who attacked #EndSARS protesters at the Alausa area of Ikeja ìn Lagos State on Thursday morning.

    In a statement, sighted by Echotitbits, the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led State government it will never encourage thuggery or any act of violence that may put the lives and businesses of Lagosians at risk adding that it is strongly committed to ensuring that youths, who have taken to the streets to air their views, are well protected.

    The statement said: “The attention of the Lagos State Government has been drawn to some unverified reports in the social media alleging that the government-sponsored thugs to disrupt the #EndSARS protest. This is untrue and wicked.

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    “Such wild allegations were obviously concocted by enemies of peace and orderliness to whip up sentiments against the government, which has been doing everything possible to resolve the crisis by identifying with our youths in their efforts towards police reforms.

    “Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has been preaching peace. So has the Deputy Governor, who addressed the protesters last Friday. The Governor has addressed them twice – at the Lekki Toll Gate and at the House of Assembly” the statement read.

    Recall that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday visited the President to tender a five-point demand of protesters in Lagos.

    Sanwo-Olu, at the meeting with the President stated that he had also ensured that all protesters arrested by the police in Lagos were released unconditionally.

    Further in the statement dismissing any participation in the hoodlums attack on protesters, the state government accused the enemies of progress, who are not happy that Lagos is not on fire, as those fueling the “infernal lies” that the government was sponsoring thugs to attack youths who are engaging in a peaceful protest.

    “They have been posting on the social media pictures suggesting that a Lagos Bus Service Ltd. (LBSL) vehicle was conveying thugs. The bus in question was on its normal operation when it ran into a group of protesters.

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    “The passengers, who felt endangered, rushed out of the bus. They returned to continue their journey after the charging crowd had left.

    “This should be a sober time for us all as we struggle to reverse the negative effects of COVID-19 on our economic and social lives, even as the experts are warning that a second wave is likely if we shun the safety guidelines we have all agreed to embrace.

    “The government seeks the co-operation of all in ensuring that the crisis is put behind us as soon as possible”, Lagos State government said.

  • Sanwo-Olu reverses Lagos Land Use Charge, waives ₦5b potential penalty revenue

    Sanwo-Olu reverses Lagos Land Use Charge, waives ₦5b potential penalty revenue

    The Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu-Lagos State Government Wednesday reversed the rate of Land Use Charge to pre-2018 and upheld the 2018 method of valuation.

    It would be recalled that former Lagos State governor, Akinwumi Ambode, had in 2018 introduced the controversial increase in Land Use Charge which generated uproar in the state.

    Reversing the charge on Wednesday, the Sanwo-Olu administration explained that the decision for the review was to reduce the financial pressure on Lagosians relating to land use.

    “In 2018, there was an increase in Land Use Charge rate as well as the method of valuation of properties, this shock had a sporadic increase in Land Use Charge payable by property owners.

    “In view of the aforementioned, the current administration decided to review the Land Use Charge law by reversing the rate of Land Use Charge to pre-2018 while upholding the 2018 method of valuation,” Sanwo-Olu said, in a statement by his Commissioner for Finance, Rabiu Olowo.

    With this development, the state government said penalties for Land Use Charge for Year 2017, 2018 and 2019 have also been waived.

    “This translates to N5,752,168,411.03 potential revenue waived by the state.
    In additional to the re- introduction of the 15 per cent early payment discount, an additional COVID-19 incentive of 10 per cent will be granted on the total amount payable. This makes the total discount for early payment 25 per cent if payment is made before due date.

    “The penalty for obstruction of officials and damage to property identification plague has been reduced from N250,000 to N100,000.

    “The penalty for inciting a person to refuse to pay LUC has been reduced from N250,000 to N100,000.

    “The 2020 LUC Law introduced a 10 per cent and 20 per cent special relief for vacant properties and open empty land, respectively,” the statement added.

    Idowu Sowunmi