Babajide Sanwo-Olu
Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu (born June 25, 1965) is a Nigerian politician and the current Governor of Lagos State. He became governor under the platform of the All Progressives Congress after contesting and unexpectedly winning the gubernatorial primaries under the All Progressives Congress against incumbent Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State in October 2019. He is a graduate of the University of Lagos, as well as the London Business School, Lagos Business School and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Before his gubernatorial ambition, he was the managing director and CEO of Lagos State Property Development  Corporation (LSPDC). Education. Sanwo-Olu has a BSc in Surveying and an MBA from the University of Lagos. He is an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, the London Business School and the Lagos Business School. He is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) and fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Training and Development (NITAD). Career. Banking. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu was the treasurer at former Lead Merchant Bank from 1994 to 1997 after which he moved to the United Bank for Africa as the head of foreign money market. He then  proceeded to First Inland Bank, Plc (now First City Monument Bank) as a deputy general manager and divisional head. He was the chairman of Baywatch Group Limited and First Class Group Limited. Public service. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu began his political career in 2003, when he was appointed a Special Adviser on Corporate Matters to the then deputy governor of Lagos State, Femi Pedro. He was later made the acting Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget until 2007, when he was appointed as the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry by then Governor, Bola Tinubu. After the General Elections of 2007 , Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu was appointed Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions by Governor Babatunde Fashola. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu was made Managing Director/CEO of the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in 2016. Some of his notable public sector achievements include the supervision of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) privatization projects. He set up and was the Pioneer Board Chairman of Lagos Security Trust Fund. The LAGBUS System and the Control & Command Centre in Alausa Ikeja were subsequently established under his directives. Politics. On 16 September 2018, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu formally  declared his intention to run for the office of the governor of Lagos State under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) making him a major contender to the incumbent governor Akinwunmi Ambode. His declaration attracted endorsements from major stakeholders in Lagos State politics; including the Governor’s Advisory Council of the Lagos chapter of the All Progressives Congress and members of the Lagos State House of Assembly, which led to withdrawal of Dr. Femi Hamzat, a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress APC in Lagos from the gubernatorial race. He won the Lagos gubernatorial  primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on 2 October 2018. At the APC flag-off campaign rally held on 8 January 2019, Governor of Lagos, Akinwunmi Ambode, and 63 political parties lent their support for the candidacy of Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu. In a landslide victory over his opponent, Jimi Agbaje, Sanwo-Olu was elected to the Office of Governor of Lagos State at the 2019 General elections for Lagos State which held on 9 March 2019. He was sworn in as the 15th Governor of Lagos State at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) Lagos Island on Wednesday May  29, 2019. He has been working on different development activities, one of which is road construction across major areas in Lagos state. Recently, Sanwo-olu asked that the statue of Fela Kuti that was erected by Akinwunmi Ambode be removed from Allen Avenue in Ikeja as he to ease the situation of traffic in that area. However, the statue is said to be relocated to a more convenient area in Lagos state. The Governor commissioned the Oshodi - Abule-Egba BRT Lane amongst other projects in 2020. Controversies. Corruption. In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanwo-Olu was reported to  have mismanaged relief funds for the pandemic. The PDP called for an enquiry into the expenditure. In January 2022, the Peoples Gazette reported that the Sanwo-Olu administration had increased the state government’s monthly payment to Alpha Beta LLC from ₦800 million to ₦2.5 billion. The government payments for tax processing had long been controversial as Alpha Beta is extensively controlled by former Lagos State Governor and Sanwo-Olu ally Bola Tinubu; however, the payment rose during the Sanwo-Olu administration prior to Tinubu's 2023 presidential campaign. Speculation arose that the increased government payments were meant  to help fund the Tinubu campaign in exchange for Tinubu's support for Sanwo-Olu's re-election campaign. Lekki massacre. On 20 October 2020, during the End SARS protests, the governor imposed a 24-hour curfew starting at 4p.m., which was subsequently extended to begin at 9p.m. Just before 7p.m., soldiers and policemen were deployed to disband the protests. This led to the shooting and killing of an unconfirmed number of protesters, leaving others injured. Amidst the outcry over the shooting, the judicial panel Sanwo-Olu set up earlier that week to look into police brutality  started to investigate the incident. Over a year later in November 2021, the panel released its report on the shooting, stating that at least nine people were shot dead and declaring it a "massacre" in direct contradiction to Army statements. However, Sanwo-Olu immediately set up a committee to write a white paper on the panel's report and the white paper committee swiftly denied any deaths occurred leading to criticism from civil society and protesters. Awards. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu has obtained a variety of awards in his career, some of which include: Personal life. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu  is married to Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu.