Water Crisis Looms As CAPPA Warns Lagos Over Concession, Prepaid Meters

Lagos State Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab

Residents of Lagos could face deeper hardship in accessing one of life’s most basic necessities if plans to concession parts of the state’s public water infrastructure and expand prepaid metering go ahead, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has warned.

The civil society organisation in a statement signed by its Media and Communications Officer, Robert Egbe, said the proposed arrangement could leave low-income households paying more for unreliable water, while giving private companies significant influence over distribution, tariffs, metering and household access.

CAPPA’s warning followed the Lagos State Government’s signing of a one-year Memorandum of Understanding with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) and Naston Engineering Nigeria Limited to scope components of a water infrastructure programme within the Lekki Concession Area.

Under the proposed arrangement, the first phase would involve the installation of a transmission pipeline beneath the Lagos Lagoon into the Lekki Concession Area, while the second phase would cover downstream distribution, including metering and last-mile connections.

CAPPA said the arrangement could eventually lead to a concession agreement, but expressed concern over what it described as a lack of transparency surrounding the process.

“There is no publicly accessible record showing the project’s full scope, how the consortium was selected, what obligations the companies have assumed, or how residents have participated in its development,” the organisation said.

For residents already struggling with the cost and reliability of water supply, CAPPA said the consequences of commercialising the service could be particularly severe.

The organisation rejected the planned expansion of prepaid water meters, arguing that the system could make access to water dependent on a household’s ability to pay in advance.

Unlike conventional postpaid arrangements, prepaid systems can automatically stop supply when purchased credit runs out, potentially leaving households without water during periods of unemployment, medical emergencies or unexpected financial difficulties.

“For a resource essential to human life, sanitation, and public health, automated disconnections are fundamentally exclusionary and set to worsen the lives of vulnerable groups and low-income earners,” said CAPPA Water Program Officer, Holiness Segun-Olufemi.

CAPPA pointed to experiences in Akilo and Baruwa, where prepaid meters have already been introduced. According to the organisation, residents have reported intermittent supply, delays in activating purchased units, low pressure, restricted supply periods and discrepancies between the volumes paid for and those received.

In Baruwa, CAPPA said some households reported spending as much as N60,000 monthly on water, alongside complaints about disappearing purchased units, prolonged outages and dirty water when supply resumed.

For families living on limited incomes, the organisation argued, such conditions can turn access to water into a daily financial struggle.

CAPPA also challenged the argument that the poor condition of Lagos’ water infrastructure makes private-sector control necessary.

It attributed the longstanding problems to inadequate investment, poor maintenance, unreliable electricity and weak distribution networks, arguing that the solution should be to rebuild public capacity rather than transfer essential services to private operators.

“The problem is that successive administrations have failed to fund, maintain, and expand the system at the scale Lagos requires,” Segun-Olufemi said.

“Allowing a public institution to deteriorate and then presenting private control as its rescue is dishonest. It is an abdication of responsibility.”

The organisation said Lagos, given its revenue base, has both the resources and responsibility to invest in treatment plants, pipelines, reservoirs and distribution networks and ensure that residents have access to safe and affordable water.

CAPPA drew parallels between the proposed water reforms and Nigeria’s experience with electricity-sector privatisation and commercialisation.

It argued that more than a decade after significant parts of electricity generation and distribution were transferred to private operators, consumers continue to contend with tariff increases, prepaid-meter shortages, estimated billing and unreliable supply.

According to CAPPA, Lagos risks reproducing the same cycle in the water sector, where public funds are used to develop infrastructure while private operators control billing and revenue, with households ultimately bearing rising costs.

CAPPA has therefore called on the Lagos State Government to halt further steps towards concessioning the water infrastructure and suspend the expansion of prepaid metering.

It also demanded the full publication of the CHEC-Naston MoU, including the terms of reference and details of consultations with affected communities.

The organisation urged the state government to instead develop and publish a publicly financed plan for rehabilitating water treatment plants, pipelines, reservoirs and distribution networks.

Such a plan, it said, should guarantee a basic quantity of water to every household.

CAPPA further called on communities, labour unions, students, journalists, civil society organisations and residents to demand greater accountability from government over the provision of water.

It warned that any concession could bind Lagos for decades, potentially extending far beyond the tenure of the officials who negotiate the agreement.

While acknowledging the urgent need for massive investment in Lagos’ water infrastructure, CAPPA insisted that such investment should strengthen the Lagos Water Corporation and expand public capacity.

The organisation said water must remain accessible as a basic public service rather than become another avenue for profit at the expense of vulnerable households.