Babajide Sanwo-Olu

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.

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.[3][7]

Some of his notable public sector achievements include the supervision of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) privatization projects.[8] He set up and was the Pioneer Board Chairman of Lagos Security Trust Fund. The LAGBUS System and the Control & Command Centre in Alausa were subsequently established under his directives.

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.[8]

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[9] and members of the Lagos State House of Assembly,[10] which led to withdrawal of Dr. Femi Hamzat,[11] 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.[12] 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.[13] He was sworn in as the 15th Governor of Lagos State at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) Lagos Island on Wednesday May 29, 2019.[14]

He has been working on different development activities, one of which is road construction across major areas in Lagos state. Recently, Babajide 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.[15]

In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanwo-Olu was reported to have mismanaged relief funds for the pandemic. The PDP opposition party called for an enquiry into the expenditure.[16]

On 20 October, during the End SARS protests, the governor imposed a 24-hour curfew starting at 4 p.m., which was subsequently extended to begin at 9 p.m. Just before 7 p.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.[17]