Get Guardian on GoogleLagos State governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has criticised the state government over its threat to seal facilities and prosecute residents who drill boreholes or extract groundwater without regulatory approval.
Rhodes-Vivour accused the state government of prioritising the enforcement of regulations over its responsibility to provide residents with clean, safe and potable water.
He said it is unjustifiable for the state government to criminalise residents’ efforts to access water when it had failed to meet their basic needs.
According to him, successive administrations under different political party names have consistently failed to prioritise access to drinking water.
Rhodes-Vivour also questioned the progress of the Adiyan Water Works Phase II project, which he said was already 80 per cent complete when the All Progressives Congress (APC) took over government in Lagos.
He recalled that the state government reported in December 2025 that the project was 85 per cent complete, yet it remained non-operational.
Similarly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State has criticised the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government over its planned enforcement of borehole regulation.
The party described the move as insensitive to residents’ water needs and economic realities, particularly amid inadequate public water supply across communities.
In a statement, the State PDP Deputy Chairman, Kayode Ogunbiyi, said the government’s threat to seal boreholes and prosecute operators drilling without approval demonstrated its failure to provide adequate public water supply.
“The decision of Lagos State to threaten residents with the sealing of boreholes and prosecution for unauthorised drilling is insensitive to the prevailing realities confronting the people.
“Rather than providing adequate and accessible public water supply, the APC-led government is threatening residents who have been compelled to seek alternative sources of water,” he said.
