There was drama on Sunday at the Lagos House, Marina, when the Lagos State Government terminated the contracts of some operators with the Lagos State Waste Management Authority.

The government said the operators violated some terms of their agreement with the government.

According to reports the Lagos State was being defrauded of millions of naira in a scheme involving LAWMA contractors.

The contractors, many of whom are politicians, allegedly inflated the wage bills of the street sweepers and supervisors under them.

The Lagos State Government pays the contractors over N560m monthly.

However, a preliminary report of an ongoing audit of the agency revealed that a huge chunk of the money was going to ghost workers and non-existent contractors.

The Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership had called for the involvement of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offenses Commission.

LAWMA, in a statement, said those indicted in the audit had been asked to go.

The statement said, “The Lagos State Waste Management Authority has announced the immediate termination of all street-sweeping briefs awarded to some companies found involved in practices violating their contracts.

“The agency also revealed that the recent audit exercise approved by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu exposed the sharp practices of the agents, assuring that services will be repositioned for greater efficiency and value for tax-payers’ money.”

The government noted that the termination of the contracts was informed by established cases of unethical behavior.

It maintained that all employees of the affected companies could re-apply directly to the authority for employment consideration

The state also informed that as part of LAWMA’s rebranding process and efforts to sanitize operations, the management had approved the restoration of single apparel as a uniform for all street sweepers for easy identification of genuine workers.

However, the government did not say if anyone would be prosecuted.