The exchange began after Environment and Water Resources Commissioner Tokunbo Wahab posted a video on X showing him and other Lagos State Government officials clearing refuse as part of efforts to clean up parts of the state.
Gbadamosi, the ADC’s deputy governorship candidate, responded by questioning whether Wahab planned to personally evacuate waste street by street, bridge by bridge, gutter by gutter, and canal by canal.
He accused the Lagos State Government of what he called “performative misgovernance” and alleged that the administration was allowing the state to be overwhelmed by refuse.
Gbadamosi pointed to refuse piles across Ikorodu, Epe, Lagos Island, and other parts of the city as evidence, describing conditions in those communities as a public health emergency that had worsened steadily over recent months.
He said Wahab was “determined to punish Lagosians with disease.”
Wahab dismissed Gbadamosi’s criticism, saying he was “not worth my attention.”
He accused Gbadamosi of failing to manage a small estate, alleged misconduct related to AMEN Estate, and mocked his political alliance with 2027 Lagos governorship candidate Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.
Wahab did not leave the governance argument there. He said Lagos generates an estimated 13,000 to 15,000 tonnes of municipal waste daily, adding that the Lagos Waste Management Authority and Private Sector Participation operators evacuated approximately 418,500 tonnes in May 2026 alone, an average of about 13,200 tonnes daily.
The commissioner acknowledged that the scale of waste generated did not mean every resident was receiving satisfactory service, confirming: “We acknowledge collection failures, underperforming PSP operators, and operational bottlenecks.” He added that the government was reviewing contracts with operators whose performance had fallen below required standards.
On flooding, Wahab said the government had invested in drainage infrastructure, pump stations, year-round maintenance, flood abatement operations, a ban on styrofoam and single-use plastics, wetland preservation, and the removal of structures on floodplains, claiming these interventions had reduced flooding incidents by 75 to 80 percent statewide.
What Wahab did not anticipate was the wristwatch. Somewhere between the governance statistics and the personal attacks, Gbadamosi disclosed publicly, in his own words posted to X, that he wears two Patek Philippe timepieces simultaneously, with the least expensive costing no less than $80,000.
The disclosure came as Gbadamosi pushed back against what he described as attacks on his background and financial standing. He said he was not born poor, had never depended on anyone for a living, and held an unblemished record as a lawyer of decades, with the watches offered as evidence of self-made wealth. The statement immediately drew widespread attention on social media, where it was shared and debated far beyond the original waste management dispute.
Gbadamosi also challenged Wahab’s claim that the Environment Ministry bore no responsibility for Private Sector Participation operators. “The Ministry is neither in charge of PSP operations nor responsible for appointing operators,” Wahab had said. Gbadamosi called that an attempt to evade accountability, telling Wahab to conduct proper findings before posting on social media.
Wahab attributed the growing volume of waste partly to the state’s expanding population and the daily influx of people into Lagos, noting that the metropolitan area receives an estimated 86 new residents every hour.
He explained that waste management was an interconnected system in which delays at disposal facilities could affect truck turnaround times, disrupt collection schedules, and lead to refuse accumulation in neighborhoods.
Responding to complaints about poor waste collection in some communities, Wahab noted that the Lagos Waste Management Authority had sanctioned several private waste operators for poor service delivery.
Neither side resolved the core question the exchange raised: with 418,500 tonnes evacuated in May 2026 alone and flooding reduced on paper, why do residents in Ikorodu, Epe, and Lagos Island still report mountains of uncollected refuse outside their front gates? The Patek Philippe debate did not answer that. It simply confirmed that both sides have moved the argument well past the drains.
