Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, and the 2027 Lagos governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, have disagreed over the state government’s management of waste and flooding.
Rhodes-Vivour had raised concerns about waste management and flooding in Lagos and described the state as stinking.
Responding to the concerns, Wahab said while some of Rhodes-Vivour’s concerns were legitimate, it was misleading to suggest that the Lagos State Government had no plan beyond clearing refuse after it accumulated.
Wahab said Lagos generates an estimated 13,000 to 15,000 tonnes of municipal waste daily. He added that in May 2026 alone, the Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA, and PSP operators evacuated approximately 418,500 tonnes of waste, averaging 13,200 tonnes daily.
The growing volume of waste is partly driven by Lagos’ expanding population and the daily influx of people into the state. Wahab acknowledged collection failures, underperforming PSP operators and operational bottlenecks, but rejected the suggestion that the government’s approach is limited to clearing refuse after it accumulates.
He said rehabilitation of Road E and additional disposal platforms at Olusosun have improved operational efficiency, with truck movements across disposal facilities rising to 1,866 in the week following the intervention. Olusosun recorded an increase from 574 to 1,012 trips.
Beyond emergency interventions, Wahab said the state is investing in Modern Transfer Loading Stations, Material Recovery Facilities, recycling, composting and the Epe waste-to-energy project.
He said the objective is to move away from decades of pick-and-dump practices towards a system where waste can be converted into energy and economic value.
On data transparency, Wahab said the state is strengthening property enumeration, geocoded service locations, GPS tracking, weighbridge measurements, collection records and recovery data.
He raised questions about whether every household has an assigned waste collector, whether operators are adequately equipped, whether scheduled collection routes are completed and whether residents’ complaints receive a response.
He also questioned whether collected waste is properly treated, recovered or disposed of, and whether emergency evacuation should become a substitute for reliable daily collection.
Wahab said the monthly environmental sanitation exercise is not a substitute for an effective waste management system, stressing that government must provide reliable services while residents and businesses must also avoid indiscriminate dumping into drains, road medians and public spaces.
He said the conversation should focus on measurable outcomes, including tonnes of waste collected, routes completed, missed collections, complaint resolution, recurring blackspots and waste diverted from landfills.
Lagos still has significant work ahead, but suggesting that the state has done nothing ignores the investments, infrastructure and operational reforms already underway.
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour’s appearance on Politics Today with Seun Okinbaloye has once again brought Lagos’ waste management and flooding challenges into public discourse. While some of his concerns are legitimate, it is important to distinguish between identifying challenges and… pic.twitter.com/xDQmmg0TvA
— Tokunbo Wahab (@tokunbo_wahab) September 29, 2026
