LAGOS RE-AFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO TRANSITIONING PROCESS TOWARDS WASTE ECONOMY THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS, RECYCLING INITIATIVES
...As HC ENVIRONMENT
Briefs Media on Seventh Year Achievements of State Governor
The Lagos State Government on Sunday re-affirmed its irrevocable commitment to transitioning process towards a zero-waste economy through strategic partnerships, improved landfill operations, recycling initiatives, and waste-to-energy projects.
The affirmation was was made by the Commissioner for the Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, during the 2026 Ministerial Press Briefing of the seventh-year in office of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration in the Environment Sector held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa.
According to him, in line with the THEMES Plus development Agenda, the state is also committed to building a cleaner, healthier, flood-resilient, and environmentally sustainable megacity.
The Commissioner highlighted wide-ranging achievements across environmental sanitation, waste management, drainage infrastructure, climate governance, beautification, water supply, wastewater management, and environmental enforcement.
He stated that a major milestone of the administration was the successful re-introduction of the monthly statewide environmental sanitation exercise saying the Exeercise aims restore environmental consciousness and improve community participation in sanitation practices across Lagos State.
"The exercise recorded massive participation from residents, local governments, private organisations, and state officials, demonstrating renewed public commitment to environmental cleanliness" he said.
Wahab said the Ministry also intensified enforcement activities through its agencies, leading to the arrest and prosecution of environmental offenders, removal of illegal traders and squatters, and issuance of environmental abatement notices across the State.
According to him, 5,715 persons were arrested for highway crossing, 3,886 people were arrested for offences ranging from street trading, environmental polluters and cart pushers, 102 arrested for practising open defecation with while 931 person were arrested for waste management offence.
He highlighted that the Ministry also commissioned the Ikosi Waste-to-Energy Biodigester Plant, situated within the Ketu Fruit Market adding that the plant converts organic waste into electricity, cooking gas, and agricultural fertilizer.
"The plant processes 0.5 tonnes of organic waste per day, generates 30kWH of electricity daily for lighting and cold storage delivering an estimated annual emission which will save 9,000tCO2e" he said.
He said in the area of waste management, the ministry had increased landfill operational efficiency and waste truck turn around time adding that following a thorough performance evaluation exercise, the operating license of 5 underperforming PSP operators were withdrawn.
He said the State also strengthened healthcare waste collection by deploying 35 new PSP operators to health facilities across the three senatorial Districts, adding that 3,920 health facilities were registered statewide with 80,000-105,000kg of medical waste treated on a monthly basis.
"We have enhanced waste to wealth intiative with the signing of 12 new partnership on environmental sustainability and have intensified monitoring and enforcement activities against indiscriminate waste disposal and environmental violations" he said.
He said the ministry had in the last one year sustained the ban on Styrofoam and single-use plastics with the removal of 137, 530.94kg of pet plastic from the environment while significantly increasing plastic recycling and resource recovery efforts.
Wahab also reported notable achievements in climate governance, air quality management, and environmental sustainability saying Lagos retained its position as Nigeria’s top-performing state in climate governance for the second consecutive year.
"The State successfully hosted the 2025 Lagos International Climate Change Summit focused on financing Africa’s coastal resilience and blue economy opportunities while the Ministry also successfully installed over 100 air quality monitoring sensors across the State in addition to introducing cleaner fish processing technology in Makoko to reduce smoke emissions and improve public health outcomes for local processors"
Wahab said the Ministry continued in its tradition of tree planting recorded 16,966 planted trees across 16,966 the five divisions of the State, adding that new recreational parks were created while existing ones are undergoing renovation.
Wahab said flood control and drainage infrastructure remained a major focus of the administration as extensive dredging, drainage cleaning, and channel construction projects were executed across the State.
According to him; The Ministry maintained and cleaned 18 primary channels of 76km and Secondary Channels of 178 kilometres while also removing illegal structures obstructing drainage alignments.
He said the Emergency Flood Abatement Gang operatives of the Ministry responded to flood-prone areas and black spots across Lagos amounting to approximately 210km in length, adding that this reinforces the State Government’s determination to mitigate flooding and improve stormwater management in vulnerable communities.
In the water resources sector, Wahab reported significant milestones with the commissioning of the rehabilitated 1 MGD Akilo Mini Waterworks, stating that steady progress is being made on the Adiyan Phase II Water Treatment Plant project and expansion of potable water infrastructure.
Wahab concluded that the collective achievements across sanitation, waste management, climate action, drainage, beautification, environmental enforcement, and water infrastructure are demonstration that the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration is committed to delivering sustainable environmental reforms and improving the quality of life for residents across Lagos State.
Kunle Adeshina
DIRECTOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS
MOE&WR
Sunday May 24, 2026.
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