Photo: Activists, stakeholders at the symposium
By Mandy Park
Residents of some communities in Lagos State, alongside activists and labour leaders, have rejected the state government’s prepaid water metering scheme, warning that it could make access to clean water dependent on people’s ability to pay.
They called on the government to invest in public water infrastructure and guarantee affordable access to safe and reliable water instead of introducing a system that disconnects households when their prepaid credits are exhausted.
The stakeholders made their position known at a symposium organised by the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), as part of the 2026 Africa Week of Action Against Water Privatisation in Ogba, Lagos.
The opposition comes as the Lagos State Government pilots prepaid water meters in communities including Baruwa and Akilo, amid concerns over the affordability, reliability and accessibility of public water services.
Residents of Baruwa, in the Alimosho Local Government Area, have reportedly struggled to access safe water for drinking, cooking and other domestic needs following contamination of natural water sources by petrol leaking from buried pipelines transporting fuel from the Mosinmi Oil Depot to the Ejigbo Oil Facility.
The situation has forced residents to seek alternative sources of water to meet their daily needs.
Although the government subsequently connected the communities to the state’s water supply network, prepaid meters were installed on their taps, requiring residents to pay before accessing the service.
However, residents reportedly receive water only three times a week, with electricity outages and difficulties recharging the meters further disrupting supply.
Speaking at the symposium, activist Dagga Tolar argued that prepaid metering would not resolve Lagos’s water challenges, accusing the government of neglecting public water infrastructure while pursuing a system that could exclude low-income households.
Tolar said access to water was a fundamental human right that should not be determined by an individual’s financial circumstances.
He said, “This water scheme process, its aim at shutting people out from public water, aims to deny them access to one of their fundamental human rights to freely access water to meet all of their human needs.”
The activist called on the state government to rehabilitate existing waterworks, expand mini-waterworks and develop a comprehensive public water supply programme to guarantee access to safe water across Lagos.
“We must reject this current plan,” he said, urging the government to develop a Lagos Water for All action plan instead of relying on privatisation and prepaid metering.
Drawing comparisons with the electricity sector, Tolar questioned whether the metering model would deliver better services, arguing that privatisation had not guaranteed reliable electricity supply.
He urged residents, civil society organisations and trade unions to mobilise against the proposed system and make access to water a major public policy issue.
“The state and society we live in has the fundamental duty to ensure that it provides not just access to water, but free, healthy, clean water,” he said.
The Executive Director of CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, warned that prepaid water metering and privatisation could deepen existing inequalities by making access to an essential resource dependent on the ability to pay.
Oluwafemi argued that the system could disproportionately affect unemployed people, low-income earners and households facing emergencies.
“When a meter cuts off supply because credit has expired, it cannot distinguish between leaking pipes or a family waiting for daily wages. It cannot account for unemployment, illness or an emergency. It simply enforces exclusion,” he said.
He also expressed concerns about proposed water concessions, including reported plans for 20-year agreements, cost-reflective tariffs, periodic reviews and foreign exchange protections for investors.
The CAPPA director said residents should be allowed to scrutinise the proposed agreements and understand their implications for household water bills and the state’s finances.
“Residents are entitled to see the agreements and know whose interests they protect,” he said.
Similarly, CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director, Zikora Ibeh, criticised the state’s water privatisation drive, arguing that it could weaken public water services and undermine workers’ welfare.
Ibeh cited the reported dismissal of more than 800 Lagos Water Corporation workers as an example of the concerns surrounding changes in the management of public water services.
She also faulted prepaid metering for failing to account for the economic realities of households, insisting that access to water should not be determined by people’s capacity to pay.
The National President of the Precision, Electrical and Related Equipment Senior Staff Association, Rufus Olusesan, called on organised labour and communities to resist water privatisation.
Olusesan warned that the policy could lead to higher tariffs, exclude low-income households and threaten workers’ jobs and pensions.
“Water is public. Water is life. And life is not for sale,” he said.
He urged the government to prioritise public investment, democratic accountability and affordable access to water, rather than introduce arrangements that could place additional financial burdens on residents.
Other speakers at the event included CAPPA’s Water Campaign Officer, Holiness Segun Olufemi, and the Founder and Executive Director of Sustainable Futures Development Initiatives, Favour John.
The stakeholders maintained that the government should strengthen public water infrastructure, improve the reliability of supply and ensure that residents have access to safe and affordable water, particularly in communities where existing sources have been compromised.
They also called for greater transparency and public participation in decisions concerning the management, financing and delivery of water services in Lagos State.
