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Ambode: The strategist Lagos needs
Everyone has the legitimate right to aspire to serve in any political office or position in a democracy provided he has not been convicted in a court of law. However, at all times, conscious efforts must be made to ensure the emergence of the best candidate for the polity to enjoy the benefit of a good leader. The onus rests on the voters to actually elect a worthy leader for the state or nation.

Currently, Akinwunmi Ambode of the All Progressives Congress and Jimi Agbaje are busy selling themselves to electorates across the length and breadth of Lagos State with a view to getting the approval of the voter to become governor of the State of Excellence in the elections slated for February.

Beyond emerging as the party’s flag bearers, each passing day, Nigerians in general and Lagosians in particular, are striving to see what these men bring to table to lead the commercial capital of the nation in terms of experience and competencies beyond the stoic desire to lead Lagos for the next four years.

Agbaje, 57 has been at the political treadmill since 2005 and has contested for the position of Lagos State governor two times, going for his third while his archrival, Ambode is making his first attempt. Agbaje is a 1978 graduate of pharmacy from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). He was a practising pharmacist with over three decades before he veered into politics. “I started my pharmacy on the shopping floor, which is about the community- people, customers, and patients. Therefore, you find that you are dealing with your environment. So, going into politics is just an extension”, he says indicating how close he has been in touch with the grassroots.

By comparison, Ambode seems to have a more robust career, focus and landmark accomplishments. Born on June 14, 1963, he is an accomplished accountant, an administrator and a public finance management expert. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Brandsmiths Consulting Limited – a firm with specialisation in public sector finance management.

He had a sterling career in the civil service where he rose to become the Accountant-General and held many sensitive financial positions in the Lagos State government in a 27-year career in the Lagos State Civil Service.

He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and a Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management. His desire to give back to the society is expressed in his founding the La Roche Leadership Foundation, a non-profit organisation focused on developing the next generation of leaders.

Ambode began his education at St. Jude’s Primary School, Ebute Meta, Lagos in 1969. Always brilliant, in 1974, while still in Primary five, he sat for the National Common Entrance Examinations and excelled and was admitted to Federal Government College, Warri in the same year. He spent seven years in Warri, where he completed his Ordinary and Advanced Levels and had the distinction of achieving the second best result in all of West Africa in the Higher School Certificate Examinations in 1981.

He then proceeded to the University of Lagos where he studied Accounting, graduating at the age of 21 in 1984. He completed his mandatory National Youth Service Corps year serving with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sokoto, Sokoto State, where he started his relationship with public service.

After his NYSC, he commenced his career at the Lagos State Waste Disposal Board (now LAWMA) as Accountant Grade II. He enrolled for Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) examinations and at the same time was awarded a Federal Government scholarship to pursue a Masters Degree in Accounting at the University of Lagos. By the time he turned 24, he had qualified as a Chartered Accountant and had completed his Masters Degree programme in Accounting, specialising in Financial Management.

His career was fast-tracked and in 1988, he was appointed the Assistant Treasurer, Badagry Local Government. In 1991, he was posted to Shomolu Local Government as Auditor. He was later deployed to Alimosho Local Government as Council Treasurer. Ambode was posted back to Shomolu as Council Treasurer and later on to Mushin Local Government as Council Treasurer. He crisscrossed many Local Government Councils in different roles in a 10-year period, which has equipped him with a first-hand experience of the direct impact of governance on the citizenry across the State.

In 1998, Ambode was awarded the US Fulbright Scholarship for the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship programme, in Boston University, Massachusetts, USA. His Fellowship Year was spent studying Public Leadership with emphasis on Finance and Accounting. During this programme, he had professional internships at The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Cabinet Office of Administration and Finance (Governor’s Office), and City of Boston Treasury Office as well as with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

On his return from the programme, Ambode became acting the Auditor-General for the Local Governments, Lagos State. This position was confirmed by the State House of Assembly in 2001.

In January 2005, he was redeployed to mainstream public service as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance. By February 2006, he was given the added responsibility of Accountant General for Lagos State, in charge of all the financial activities of the state and directly responsible for over 1400 accountants in the state service. Under his watch, the State Treasury Office (STO) revolutionised the way Lagos State finances were raised, budgeted, managed and planned. In his six-year tenure as the Accountant General of Lagos State, the state’s financial performance improved visibly with the budget performing at a remarkable average of 85% annually.

This high rate of performance stems from Ambode’s personal belief that “public financial management is about ensuring that public money is well spent and it is made to stretch as far as possible. It provides leaders and public-sector managers with information to make decisions and to know if they are using resources effectively”.

He voluntarily retired in August 2012 after 27 years of service and founded Brandsmiths Consulting Limited, a public finance consultancy group.

As a stickler for high performance whose decisions are never based on race, gender or religion, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress [APC} in Lagos State in his manifesto promised, to set up a four-year N25 billion trust fund to cater for unemployed people in the state under the Lagos Employment Trust Fund (LETF). The fund would provide a minimum of N1 billion naira annually for entrepreneurial ventures across the state’s five divisions of Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos and Epe.

As a financial management expert, he also plans to protect the growth of small and medium scale enterprises by providing tax incentives: “we will implement government policies that will encourage the private sector to employ more citizens and foster economic development”.

Also of critical importance in his plans are the issues of health, education and housing. For education, Ambode’s administration if elected says, “would provide free education up to senior secondary level, as well as provide one meal per day for students while bursary and scholarship initiatives for tertiary institutions will executed in partnership with the private sector as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility.”

His housing plans is a bit more revolutionary as plans to improve the state’s current policy of home ownership through Lagos HOMS and provide ownership options, such as Rent-to-Own-Programme (R.O.P).

“We will encourage the creation of a Corporate Social Responsibility Trust Fund (CSR-TF) by the private sector, to be managed by a Board of Trustees charged with the responsibility of identifying growth opportunities yearly and financing such opportunities to further boost economic development across sectors and communities in the State.”

Good luck is when opportunity meets with preparedness; therefore determining where the pendulum swings should not be akin to looking for a needle in a haystack. It is obvious in this situation that one is more prepared than the other. Ambode’s career trajectory, work and life experiences, revolutionary vision and open mindedness make him the better choice of the two for the job of leading Lagos in the nest political dispensation.
- Adewale is a public affairs analyst
January 16, 2015
Ambode gets support

The Akinwunmi Ambode Kommittee of Friends (AA’KOF) has said it will embark on a robust media campaign to ensure the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.

The group said besides the campaign, it would be involved in mobilising grassroots people to vote for the APC candidate.

It said in a statement that the move was part of its contributions to ensuring Ambode’s success at the polls.

The group’s Media Director, Cornelius Olopade, said the good governance put in place by Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola could only be sustained by a progressive- minded person like Ambode.

AA’KOF described Ambode as a tested and trusted technocrat and an articulate administrator, adding that his performance as an accountant-general spoke volumes about his competence.

January 15, 2015
Ambode gets support

The Akinwunmi Ambode Kommittee of Friends (AA’KOF) has said it would embark on a robust media campaign to ensure the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode.

The group said besides the campaign, it would be involved in mobilising grassroots people to vote for the APC candidate.

It said in a statement that the move was part of its contributions to ensure Ambode’s success at the polls.

The group’s Media Director, Cornelius Olopade, said the good governance put in place by Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola could only be sustained by a progressive- minded person like Ambode.

AA’KOF described him as a tested and trusted technocrat and an articulate administrator, adding that his performance as an accountant-general spoke volume about his competence.

January 14, 2015
I’m in this race to serve, says Ambode

The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode, has said he is in the race to serve humanity.

The APC candidate, at the weekend, reassured supporters and stakeholders that he was in the race to serve and lead by example.

In a statement by his Director of Media and Communications, Steve Ayorinde, Ambode said Lagos had a record of “excellent service” in the past 15 years and the more than 17 million people living and working in Africa’s largest city-state “deserved a tested hand who would continue in that tradition of excellence”.

The APC candidate said: “The governor that Lagos State deserves at this period of our continued growth and development is a man with a track record of performance and excellence; a man who is tested, who understands governance and is an experienced administrator who will not experiment with the resources and growth template of this state. I, Akinwunmi, Ambode, is that man.”

Speaking at the third Annual Lecture of the January 9 Collective (J9C), where he spoke on the topic of the lecture, 2015 General Polls: Beyond the Rhetoric of Credible Elections, which was delivered by Prof. Anthony Kila.

According to Ambode, who is a Fulbright scholar, selfless service and leadership by example should be the hallmark of an elected official, who is desirous of making a meaningful change and lasting impression in the lives of the electorate.

“Selfless service becomes non-negotiable if the process that brought elected leaders into office is free, fair and credible. But often, we see leaders who derail and abandon their promises to the electorate because the process that brought them to office is flawed. They feel they do not owe the voters.

“This is why we in APC have been very vocal about the need to have a credible election; to have a process that is fair and transparent and to have an election that does not seek to systematically disenfranchise the electorate.”

He added that APC would continue to urge the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that all the eligible six million registered voters in Lagos State get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

“This is the only way to ensure that INEC’s preparedness is beyond rhetorics so that next month’s elections can produce leaders that the people want.”

Ambode met with the Zonal Chairman of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Lagos Zone, Comrade Tokunbo Korodo; the National Coordinator of the Civil Society Club of Nigeria (CISOCON), Comrade Babatunde Ashafa; the chairman of the Council of Arewa Chiefs, Alhaji Sani Kabiru and a group of senior citizens representing retired civil servants at his Gbagada campaign office.

The APC candidate also reiterated his plans for sports development when he spoke at a charity football match in Ikorodu yesterday, organised to drum up support for his ambition.

He used the occasion to explain his T.H.E.S.E plan which, as part of his campaign manifesto, emphasises the harnessing of Tourism, Hospitality, Entertainment, Sports and Excellence to get the youth of Lagos State engaged in those areas.

“Our vision is clear about the direction that Lagos State should face after 15 years of solid foundation and progress. And this is what our campaign is all about. We must consolidate and build on the achievements of the past administration of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the incumbent actualiser, Babatunde Fashola.

“Lagos deserves excellence through a combination of requisite experience and selfless service. Lagos does not depend on sharing of oil revenue any longer.

“The state is creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive and for citizens and corporate sector to pay their taxes. Sports, entertainment and tourism are goldmines waiting to be tapped. This is no time to experiment with the future of our state and we are convinced that the majority of Lagosians appreciate that fact.”

January 12, 2015
Why Lagos youths will vote for Ambode, by leader

the President of Young Achievers Campaign Organisation of Nigeria (YACOON), Mr. Temitope Adewale, has said Lagos State youths prefer All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, to others.

The youth leader compared Ambode with other parties’ candidate, returning a verdict that the APC man was the preferred candidate.

According to him, the People Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Jimi Agbaje, was no match to Ambode.

He said: “Agbaje is a gentleman and, no doubt, appeals to several youths in Lagos State. The pharmacist-turned politician wowed Lagos youths with a Nollywood style of campaign in 2007. He has ever since been in the minds of Lagosians as a man of the future. Pundits regretted that Agbaje failed to take the humble pie and become a commissioner under Governor Babatunde Fashola in 2007, a move many claim would have sealed his fate as a possible successor to Fashola in 2015.

“Agbaje shunned what may have been a lifetime opportunity to learn from service, which a much more politically experienced Senator Hilary Clinton took in 2009, serving under her former rival, President Barack Obama. Mrs Clinton, a United States former First Lady, knew that to boost her chances of being the first woman President of the U.S in 2016, she needed to boost her foreign policy experience, which she successfully did as Secretary of State. Beyond that, she showed to the world that she had the capacity to collaborate with past rivals, learn from them and even serve under them. These are important leadership qualities that Agbaje failed to demonstrate during the eight years tenure of Fashola…

January 12, 2015
Tinubu, Fashola, Ambode and baton of excellence
For Lagos State, the last 15 years of civil administration had been an epic. Lagos has been able to live up to its alias as the “Centre of Excellence” as the successive administration continue to build on the foundation laid by the enigmatic pathfinder, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who became governor when the democratic ship berthed on our shores way back in 1999.

With a professional background steeped in private sector audit, Tinubu was quick to realize the need to depend less on federal allocation by shoring up the revenue base of the state. This feat was achieved through a systematic re-engineering of the internally generated revenue regimes by plugging loop holes and leakages, keeping within existing financial guidelines in a way that does not impose additional burden on the people.

In addition, he initiated far reaching policies in all sectors of the socio-economic spectrum such as transportation, education, judiciary, health, environment, commerce and industry as symbolized by the Lekki Free Trade Zone and other initiatives. The Enron initiative still remained unbeaten in the power sector in terms of constancy and quantity. Many a times in the history of our power supply, it has remained the only source of supply.

His reforms in the judicial sector was quite legendary as governments, state and federal and some other African nations were falling on themselves to adopt the Lagos model in a bid to enhance their justice system.

To ensure that these policies endure beyond the lifetime of his administration, he created institutions that will not only sustain the initial gains but to ensure that the policies and programmes continue to evolve to meet up with time dynamics.

An astute statesman and strategist that he was and still is, Tinubu played safe with his choice of Babatunde Raji Fashola as successor, a capable hand he styled as the “The Best Man for The Job” to steer the ship of the state after him. Ever since, Lagos State and its people have been the better for it as the state continues to move from one level of advancement to the next. Tinubu has become the powerhouse of grooming successful leaders in Nigeria, a feat, yet unequalled in the history of the country.

The Fashola administration has redefined the art of governance in the country through its numerous innovative and creative programmes and projects. He strongly demonstrated that with a focused, visionary leadership, and hard work, the Nigerian of our dream is not unattainable.

From the outset, Fashola set out to do government business in an unusual fashion; completely different from what we are used to. That is why he always affirms an Albert Einstein’s maxim that: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

Hence, Fashola set out to place Lagos among the prime investment hubs, not only in Africa, but in the whole world. His vision is to build a Lagos that is similar to reputable cities like London, Mumbai, Istanbul, Sao Paulo, Jakarta, Delhi, Dubai, Bangkok, and Cairo among others. With the relative success of the State Security Trust Fund in taming crimes in the state, Lagos has become the preferred point for investors as the business atmosphere has become predictable and stabilized.

Lagos is safer today by any standard of the world. The state government’s intervention in the work environment in the areas of training, equipment, logistics and motivation and other crime management measures continue to yield results.

Many have been trying to analyze the Fashola phenomenon in Lagos. Some analysts are of the view that the governor succeeded because he has a passionate commitment to connecting with the people, particularly the ordinary man on the street, and building their trust in the sincerity and noble intentions of his government. Others, however, ascribe Fashola’s success to his rugged determination to leave an indelible footprint in the sands of time. This, according to pundits, has really made him to focus totally on governance. Quite a few also attribute the success of the administration to the assemblage of a crack team of committed individuals, an intricate blend of professionals, administrators, scholars and politicians.

It’s only a few months to the end of the Fashola administration, yet there are indications that the progressive train of governance in Lagos is not, in any way, ready to berth. The emergence of Akinwunmi Ambode as the gubernatorial candidate of the ruling party in the state, the All Progressive Congress, APC, is another indication that the party is not in short supply of capable hands to keep the state on the path of growth and progress.

With the intimidating credentials of this candidate, it is indicative that the tradition of excellence in the state is about to soar to a higher heights. It is difficult to fault this line of reasoning for many reasons. For one, everything about Ambode sparks of brilliance and excellence. At 21, he graduated in style in Accounting from the University of Lagos, Akoka. At the age of 24, when many of his contemporaries were yet to find their bearings in life, Ambode had earned a Master’s degree in Accounting and had also became a Chartered Accountant.

It is, however, the selfless and committed stance of Ambode to the service of the government and people of Lagos that actually marks him out as a diligent and conscientious public administrator. An astute public servant, Ambode has had a highly illustrious and consummate career as a public sector accountant and administrator in Lagos State. In a most distinguished public service career spanning almost three decades, Ambode rose to become the Auditor General for Local Governments in the state, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Accountant General of Lagos State, a position he held till his voluntary resignation from the public service in 2012.

A resourceful and ingenious administrator, part of Ambode’s enduring legacies as Accountant General of the state was the establishment of the State Treasury Office (STO), which transformed public sector financial budgeting, management, planning and expenditure in Lagos State. In his six years as Accountant-General, the financial position of the state recorded a great boost while budget performance averaged 85% per annum. A prudent and shrewd manager of public resources, Ambode strongly holds the view that public funds should be judiciously expended for the good of the people, whom it is primarily meant for.

Indeed, Ambode’s meticulous process of re-engineering the state’s financial status was partly responsible for the development and sustenance of the Lagos mega city. The ingenuity of the Tinubu administration in overcoming difficulties and frustrations occasioned by the seized allocation of local government councils in the state by the Obasanjo administration has been traced to the amazing financial wizardry of Ambode. How the administration was able to stay afloat in those trying era remains a major talking point till date. Of course, there is no way that the political-economy of Lagos state of the period would be discussed without giving him a prime of place.

With Ambode poised to take over from the incumbent, Fashola, as the state governor, Lagos would, indeed, be the better for it. The direction of things to come in the next few years became clearer recently when Fashola publicly presented the Lagos State Development Plan 2012-2025. The governor who publicly presented the document at the Banquet Hall of the Lagos House, Ikeja, with Ambode in attendance, added that infrastructure is being built to redress the infrastructure deficit that the state has suffered. He added that the Development Plan document is about the vision for the future and how it would affect the Lagos Mega City. The import of this development is that Ambode, when he eventually takes over from Fashola, already has a master plan with which he could realise his dream to take the state to a new level.

The lesson to be learnt in the current development in Lagos is that continuity in governance, especially from one visionary leadership to the other is quite critical, for the social, economic and political stability of the polity. However, continuity must just not be embraced just for the sake of it. It must be laced with the attendant tradition of exemplary performance. Not the type of crude cluelessness we have been witnessing at the centre in recent times. Nigeria might have been a better place if the rudder of the ship is being steered by a person who has defined passion for the country and not a conscripted and unwilling individual. This is where Lagos differs. This is why Lagos continues to excel.
- Raji is Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Information & Strategy.
January 12, 2015
Ambode: A popularity walk in Alausa

There was jubiliation at the Lagos State Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, by workers who trooped out to welcome the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Mr. Akin Ambode, who was on visit to the seat of government.

Workers from various departments and ministries swamed on the flag bearer, who was the Accountant-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance. They promised to vote for him at the poll.

Ambode was a guest at the swearing in of the Executive Secretaries of the pre-exixting 20 Local Governments Areas (LGAs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas(LCDA)s. He was mobbed by the workers as he passed through the Ministry of Finance, where he worked for six years. Directors, assistant directors, secretaries and messengers hailed the technocrat. Shouts of “Ambo, Ambo, Ambo, the next governor of Lagos” filled the air. Others were singing: “Winner Oh Oh Oh, winner, winner Oh Oh Oh winner, Ambode you don win o winner.”

It took the flag one hour and thirty minutes walk from the ministry to Adeyemi Bero Hall, the venue of the ceremony. Ordinarily, it takes five miniutes to get to the hall. Security agents were appealing to the crowd to give way. But, they refused, saying that they wanted to talk to one of their own.

Ambode was returning to the secretariat for the first time after his voluntary retirement in 2012. They recalled his passion for worker’s welfare and push for transparency and accountability. Even, when he managed to get to the high table, scores of senior civil servants moved up to discuss with him, thereby diverty his attention from the ceremony.

As Ambode took his seat at the high table, the crowd also sang victory song. “Ambo, Ambo the next governor of Lagos, ” they chorused.

The singing and dancing continued, until the arrival of Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN).

The governor described Ambode as a financial surgeon, adding that his services are required at this critical time.

Fashola enjoined Lagosians to vote for experience, instead of an experiment;, and continuity of excellence instead of docility. He said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has nothing to offer to the people.

He added: “The People Democratic Party(PDP) is incompetent and it has made a disaster of the governance of the nation. Lagosians must not allow the PDP to crash their match towards more glory and excellence. Lagos is too strategic to be entrusted to cluelessness and impunity that the PDP represents.”

January 8, 2015
Ambode, Agbaje battle for Lagos Govt. House

The die is cast between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State. As the two parties warm up for the governorship contest, Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the strengths and weaknesses of the flag bearers — Akinwunmi Ambode and Olujimi Agbaje – and the issues that will shape the contest.

The governorship election in Lagos State will be a straight fight between Akinwunmi Ambode of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Jimi Agbaje of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But, Ambode, according to observers, may have the upper hand because his party has dominated politics in the state, since the restoration of civil rule in 1999. Indeed, since its inception, the state has been ruled by the progressives, except in the aborted Third Republic when the late Sir Michael Otedola of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) came to power through protest votes by aggrieved members of the proscribed Social Democratic Party (SDP).

The odds are stacked in Ambode’s favour. But, the APC flag bearer is also not leaving anything to chance. When he was elected as the candidate at the primaries, he acknowledged that the task ahead is daunting, but surmountable. “We have only just commenced the first phase of the execution of our political agenda. The next phase beckons. We must all work together to usher APC back into power in Lagos State,” he said.

Ambode said his intention is to create a more conducive business environment in the state, to attract more investment opportunities. “My mission and vision is to create a clean, secure, prosperous Lagos State that is driven by a vibrant economy and supported by quality service, equity and justice; a Lagos where no one is discriminated against on account of age, religion, creed or origin.

“We have a legacy to build upon and it is our collective responsibility to build on the progress that Lagos has witnessed in the last 15 years. In building on the legacies of the last 15 years, it is important to expand the frontiers of doing business in the state that has the potential to be one of the top five economies in Africa. Lagos deserves nothing less and this shall continue to be my message to every Lagosian as we begin to solicit their votes.

“On my part, I promise never to waiver or fail. I promise to energise and mobilise our teeming supporters in the next phase of this struggle. I put myself to the task knowing full well that the foundation laid must never be destroyed but built upon. I commit to the continuation of excellence and the upliftment of the lives of all Lagosians.”

Ambode emerged through a keenly contested primary. He defeated 11 other aspirants with a wide margin. The primary was held at Onikan Stadium and was transmitted live on television. Ambode polled 3,735 of the total 5, 959 votes. His co-contestants, except two, have pledged to team up with him and work for his victory at the poll.

Before the primary, many observers feared that with, 12 aspirants jostling for the APC ticket, there will be implosion, which would be to the advantage of the PDP in its quest to capture the state in next month’s election. The expectation was that the defeated aspirants would defect with their supporters to the PDP. But, that did not happen.

One of the aspirants, Tayo Ayinde, described Ambode’s landslide victory as a reward of rigorous campaign, hard work and popularity. “As an APC loyalist, the victory of one of us is victory for all. I shall continue to work for the interest of our party,” he pledged.

On Ambode’s antecedents, analysts noted that he had been part of the Lagos success story in the last 15 years. But, being a civil servant, he was neither seen nor heard. He was in the background along several others, designing and implementing many of the policies that stood Lagos out from the rest of the country. It was under his watch that former Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu survived the war he fought against former President Olusegun Obasanjo when he (Tinubu) created additional 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), which led to the seizure of local governments’ allocations by the Obasanjo administration.

Ambode designed a template that revolution-alised revenue generation in the state from N600 million to over N6 billion monthly; thereby ensuring that all civil servants in the state received their monthly salaries without delay. Ambode is believed to have a burning desire to ensure that things continue to work in the state. “I have been part of the transformation of Lagos. I am one of the designers of the structure you are seeing in the state. Now is the time for me to take over the driver’s seat,” he noted.

Agbaje, the PDP flag bearer, is another passionate Lagosian who has been yearning to contribute his quota to the state’s development. The strategy to draft Agbaje into the race on the platform of the PDP was devised in February 2013 when party stakeholders had a closed-door meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on how to tackle the ruling party in the forthcoming general elections. It was at the meeting that it was agreed that Agbaje should be the party’s next governorship candidate in Lagos. The Agbaje agenda was said to have been conceived by the late National Security Adviser Andrew Azazi.

Agbaje has been moving from one party to the other in the last couple of years. He was among the governorship aspirants in Lagos in 2007 on the platform of the defunct Action Congress (AC). When he failed to get the party’s ticket, he defected to Democratic Peoples’ Alliance (DPA) floated by Chief Olu Falae and Afenifere leaders. Since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) de-registered DPA, Agbaje did not bother join any other party until recently when he formally defected the PDP.

But, the primary that produced Agbaje as the PDP’s governorship candidate in Lagos was controversial. Senator Musiliu Obanikoro had engaged in a war of words with Agbaje and the leader of PDP in the state, particularly Chief Bode George, over the primary. He had also sued the PDP for not addressing a petition he wrote over the conduct of the primary.

Through the intervention of the Presidency, the controversy has been resolved. Vice President Namadi Sambo was deployed to hold reconciliation talks and unite the warring factions. Obanikoro said at a press conference addressed by Jimi Agbaje with Sambo in attendance, that he and other aspirants have accepted Agbaje as the PDP governorship candidate. “Despite the inadequacies of our governorship primary, we have agreed today that Agbaje is the PDP governorship candidate in Lagos State,” said Obanikoro.

Agbaje told reporters that: “This is a defining moment in the life of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). For once in the history of PDP in Lagos, we are approaching a common opponent, as one solid, united and powerful force. All the aspirants in the governorship primary of Lagos State have agreed to smoke the peace pipe and gather under one banner. We listened to the voice of Nigerians, Lagosians in particular. They asked us to give and take. Differences, animosities, divergences are hereby declared dead”.

Now that Agbaje has been accepted by other aspirants, can he break the 16-year old jinx and galvanise the party to victory? Agbaje was optimistic when he said “today a new chapter is being written in the annals of the PDP and by the grace of God in 2015, the PDP will record resounding victory in Lagos.”

A chieftain of the APC and former Senate Minority leader, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora has however described the PDP’s hope of winning Lagos State in 2015 as day-dreaming. He said: “Lagos is a strong APC state that has been under its control since 1999. We have seamless continuity from administration of Tinubu to that of Fashola. We have many things to show the people to justify the APC power domination in Lagos State. The emergence of Jimi Agbaje can not jeopardise our hold on to power in the state.”

Mamora said the wind of change blowing across the country will make it impossible for the PDP to win Lagos in 2015. We are not taking the support of the people for granted. We will work hard for electoral victory. We don’t have any reason to be jittery over Agbaje. He is known to us. We don’t underrate him any way. We will let PDP know that Lagos is no go area.

“What the APC has done in the past 15 years in the state will make us win in 2015 and beyond. We recognise Jimi Agbaje as a gentle man who is loved by the people but that will not be enough to make him win the governorship election. The candidate’s platform and the antecedents of the political party would determine who wins. Those factors give APC an edge over other political parties contesting governorship election in Lagos State.”

A chieftain of the PDP in Lagos State, Chief Olufemi Williams said that the party has learnt from its past mistakes and that the stakeholders have resolved to ensure that the PDP goes into the coming election as one united front and not as a divided house. “Having united all the factions, the next thing is for all party members to queue behind our governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje. He is a sellable candidate that enjoys wide popularity among Lagosians and a match for the APC candidate”.

To observers, it will be herculean for PDP to unseat the APC in Lagos State. They conceded that Agbaje is a credible candidate and a man of high integrity, but the platform on which he’s contesting may pose a problem. The PDP is not popular in Lagos. President Goodluck Jonathan has neglected Lagos more than any other regime presumably because it is being ruled by the opposition party. All the federal roads in the state are in state of disrepair.

However, Agbaje is not a pushover. The Afenifere chieftain is a credible politician. He is loved by many people. In 2007, he was one of the aggrieved aspirants who defected from the AD, following the primaries that threw up Mr Babatunde Fashola as the candidate. As candidate of the DPA, he did not make much impact during the election.

But the Afenifere has ruled out support for Agbaje. Chairman, Lagos State chapter of Afenifere, Chief Supo Shonibare told our correspondent that: “Afenifere in Lagos State is not part of PDP and Mr Jimi Agbaje has not approached Afenifere for support. Afenifere is supporting Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the Southwest and its candidates.

Lamenting his defection to the PDP, a chieftain of the APC said Agbaje has joined a bad company. He was alive when the PDP was described as nest of killers. He was there when Funsho Williams, the PDP governorship candidate in 2003 was murdered in his bedroom. Can he stand the sight of blood? Can he handle gun? Can he wait when he sees cutlass and broken bottles at campaigns? How would he achieve his political ambition on the platform of the PDP that is unpopular in Lagos?

Agbaje has changed party platforms two times within seven years. His critics say his “inordinate” ambition is pushing him to join any political party that is ready to offer him its governorship ticket. It portrays him as an inconsistent politician.

Conscious of this, Agbaje said “PDP is my last bus stop. My back is to the wall. It is forward ever, backward never. Why will I leave the PDP to go where? To me as a politician, such a situation makes no sense”.

He spoke on his mission to transform Lagos, if elected. “My mission to serve, to renew and to uplift Lagos State into a true global Centre of Excellence and to transform the lives of residents of Lagos based on my abiding commitment to my city and my state. My mission is to provide people-centred leadership that focuses on transforming the lives of our people,” Agbaje said.

January 6, 2015
Between Agbaje and Ambode

In Jimi Agbaje, suave gentleman and pharmacist, as Lagos candidate, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has altered its preference for roughnecks as South West gubernatorial hopefuls.

Witness: Ekiti’s Ayo Fayose, demagogue of the first rank; and, from his gubernatorial deeds so far, constitutional outlaw, if he can get away with it — for which gubernatorial kind would get his budget “passed” by a rogue parliament of seven ultra-minority members (less than a quorum of nine in a legislature of 26); and claim to be in constitutional governance?

And Osun’s Iyiola Omisore: a truly controversial figure, with suspect community value, that ran a truly menacing gubernatorial campaign, complete with hooded gunmen, even if that campaign eventually failed.

In Mr. Agbaje, however, it is something refreshingly different. Obviously, Eko o ni gba-gba ku gba (Lagos won’t take any nonsense)!

Akinwunmi Ambode, Mr. Agbaje’s All Progressives Congress (APC) equivalent, is made of no less stellar stuff.

A famed civil service technocrat and professional accountant, the former Lagos Accountant-General and permanent secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Finance, was reportedly the silent wheel behind the financial re-engineering that kept Lagos afloat, when President Olusegun Obasanjo bared the fangs of his imperial presidency, over the creation of additional local governments in Lagos, under the Bola Tinubu administration.

Still, whatever Mr. Agbaje did as a private investor; and Mr. Ambode, as a public sector technocrat, are all in the realm of supposition, since neither had taken direct charge as the Lagos chief executive.

Therefore, their first point of contact, with the electorate, at least, would have to be their proxies — mentors, if you like: show-me-your-friends, fashion.

For Mr. Agbaje is the triumvirate of Olabode George, Adeseye Ogunlewe and Musiliu Obanikoro.

In a spade of a few weeks however, Mr. Obanikoro has turned Mr. Agbaje’s co-contestant for the Lagos governorship ticket; sworn virtual enemy, on the allegation that the primary was rigged in Mr. Agbaje’s favour; and now a supporter of a sort, on account of some post-primary intra-PDP entente.

For Mr. Ambode would appear former Governor Bola Tinubu and current incumbent, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN.

Though Asiwaju Tinubu said before the Lagos APC gubernatorial primaries that he backed no candidate, whispering campaigns persisted Mr. Ambode was his man. Since the candidate emerged, Governor Fashola, from his public comments and actions, appears backing Mr. Ambode to the hilt.

So, where stand the two, proxy-wise?

That Chief George and former Senator Ogunlewe broke into an involuntary embrace, after Mr. Agbaje’s win over Mr. Obanikoro, spoke volumes. Why?

No prize for guessing right — for it needs no especial perspicacity: some merry real-politik trade-off was afoot.

Both George and Ogunlewe need Mr. Agbaje’s good name. Mr. Agbaje, on the other hand, needs the twain’s political structure, on which to erect his own gubernatorial run. Quid-pro-quo: a sweetheart deal was born!

Yet, from that initial merriness, Mr. Agbaje’s brand appears heading for collateral gloom, considering the duo’s rather unflattering public perception, when the issue is Lagos.

Mr. Ogunlewe, as a senator of the Federal Republic, was one of the first sets of renegade Alliance for Democracy (AD) Lagos senators, that gifted PDP their AD mandate, resulting from former President Obasanjo’s AD destabilisation plot. The senator had the temerity to come back, in 2003, to re-contest the Lagos East senatorial seat on the PDP platform.

He was electorally guillotined — his seat given to Senator Nimbe Mamora, who after two distinguished terms, rose to become widely acknowledged as one of the finest senators of his age.

That 2002 sweet poison of soulless defection would come back to purge the federal ruling party, with the APC defection of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, prompting the rash police invasion of the National Assembly. Talk of parents eating sour grapes and children’s teeth being set on edge!

Still, Mr. Ogunlewe was not done with Lagos. As President Obasanjo’s Works minister, he levied virtual war on Lagos, with his Federal Roads Maintenance Authority (FERMA) corps, that tried to elbow the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) corps from Lagos roads, claiming they had suzerainty over federal roads in Lagos.

In one of the senseless skirmishes, Mrs. Derin Disu, then chairman of Lagos Island Local Government, was thoroughly assaulted and harassed. Her “crime”? Having the temerity to confront Mr. Ogunlewe’s FERMA corps!

Mr. Ogunlewe’s partner in the Jimi Agbaje project, Chief George, has contributed little to the public space, except military conceit and insufferable arrogance. He invented the word “capture” for winning elections, so many times thundering the PDP would “capture Lagos”, a diction that has a ring of do-or-die, foul-or-fair menace. Even as military governor of old Ondo State (now Ondo and Ekiti states), George’s record was nothing to crow about.

Mr. Obanikoro too would follow Mr. Ogunlewe’s template of defecting to PDP with his Action Congress (AC) senatorial ticket, after ironically replacing the late Wahab Dosunmu, who committed a similar electoral perfidy by taking his AD ticket to PDP. Like Mr. Ogunlewe too, Mr. Obanikoro sought election (though as Lagos governor), but was defeated by Mr. Fashola.

Ironically too, both George and Obanikoro appear doomed to the Ogunlewe script. While Ogunlewe used FERMA to traumatise Lagos, Obanikoro has accused George of using the SURE-P cadre, a bric-a-brac federal corps noticeable on Lagos roads, as alleged armed bouncers to fix elections.

Obanikoro himself, as short-lived Defence minister of state (Army), wasn’t shy of despatching his soldiers to disrupt work at the Ilubinrin, Lagos Island housing project of the state government, aside from trotting them to try and fix elections at Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections in 2014.

This would appear Mr. Agbaje’s exalted company in his gubernatorial quest!

Mr. Ambode’s company? Former Governor Tinubu and the incumbent, Governor Fashola.

Now, in the eyes of the other camp, Tinubu is the worst that could ever afflict any polity. And Fashola is nothing but his eternal stooge! That might well be. Besides, one man’s meat is another man’s poison; and, in war, all would appear fair!

Still, on a less emotive plane, the Tinubu-Fashola lineage has brought a 1999 Lagos from its abyss of infrastructural decay, environmental paralysis and sheer anomie, depressing results of years of hopeless military rule; to a 2015 near-financially independent Lagos, renascent and vibrant, confident of facing its future, even if it is always work-in-progress.

Inversely, the PDP at the federal level, has brought a 1999 Nigeria, flush with cash but nevertheless inefficient and wasteful, to a 2015 Nigeria, broke and beggarly, set to enter again the debt trap, it only exited in 2005/2006. That is Mr. Agbaje’s preferred space shuttle into governance. Wish him the best of luck!

There is partisan muck, of course; of which both camps are not necessarily guiltless. Still, Mr. Ambode would appear rooted in an already established tradition of developmental Lagos, tested and proved, with verifiable results. That, with all due respect to his good name, cannot be said of Mr. Agbaje.

Ambode’s reported rich contribution to Lagos’ financial re-engineering is reassuring, giving the impression that with him, Lagos would remain in safe and tested hands, and not just passing to partisan rivals, bustling with a me-too syndrome, but hardly exhibiting any cogent reason it could raise Lagos higher.

That is the clear choice Lagos must make, between Mr. Agbaje and Mr. Ambode.

January 6, 2015
Between Agbaje and Ambode

In Jimi Agbaje, suave gentleman and pharmacist, as Lagos candidate, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has altered its preference for roughnecks as South West gubernatorial hopefuls.

Witness: Ekiti’s Ayo Fayose, demagogue of the first rank; and, from his gubernatorial deeds so far, constitutional outlaw, if he can get away with it — for which gubernatorial kind would get his budget “passed” by a rogue parliament of seven ultra-minority members (less than a quorum of nine in a legislature of 26); and claim to be in constitutional governance?

And Osun’s Iyiola Omisore: a truly controversial figure, with suspect community value, that ran a truly menacing gubernatorial campaign, complete with hooded gunmen, even if that campaign eventually failed.

In Mr. Agbaje, however, it is something refreshingly different. Obviously, Eko o ni gba-gba ku gba (Lagos won’t take any nonsense)!

Akinwunmi Ambode, Mr. Agbaje’s All Progressives Congress (APC) equivalent, is made of no less stellar stuff.

A famed civil service technocrat and professional accountant, the former Lagos Accountant-General and permanent secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Finance, was reportedly the silent wheel behind the financial re-engineering that kept Lagos afloat, when President Olusegun Obasanjo bared the fangs of his imperial presidency, over the creation of additional local governments in Lagos, under the Bola Tinubu administration.

Still, whatever Mr. Agbaje did as a private investor; and Mr. Ambode, as a public sector technocrat, are all in the realm of supposition, since neither had taken direct charge as the Lagos chief executive.

Therefore, their first point of contact, with the electorate, at least, would have to be their proxies — mentors, if you like: show-me-your-friends, fashion.

For Mr. Agbaje is the triumvirate of Olabode George, Adeseye Ogunlewe and Musiliu Obanikoro.

In a spade of a few weeks however, Mr. Obanikoro has turned Mr. Agbaje’s co-contestant for the Lagos governorship ticket; sworn virtual enemy, on the allegation that the primary was rigged in Mr. Agbaje’s favour; and now a supporter of a sort, on account of some post-primary intra-PDP entente.

For Mr. Ambode would appear former Governor Bola Tinubu and current incumbent, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN.

Though Asiwaju Tinubu said before the Lagos APC gubernatorial primaries that he backed no candidate, whispering campaigns persisted Mr. Ambode was his man. Since the candidate emerged, Governor Fashola, from his public comments and actions, appears backing Mr. Ambode to the hilt.

So, where stand the two, proxy-wise?

That Chief George and former Senator Ogunlewe broke into an involuntary embrace, after Mr. Agbaje’s win over Mr. Obanikoro, spoke volumes. Why?

No prize for guessing right — for it needs no especial perspicacity: some merry real-politik trade-off was afoot.

Both George and Ogunlewe need Mr. Agbaje’s good name. Mr. Agbaje, on the other hand, needs the twain’s political structure, on which to erect his own gubernatorial run. Quid-pro-quo: a sweetheart deal was born!

Yet, from that initial merriness, Mr. Agbaje’s brand appears heading for collateral gloom, considering the duo’s rather unflattering public perception, when the issue is Lagos.

Mr. Ogunlewe, as a senator of the Federal Republic, was one of the first sets of renegade Alliance for Democracy (AD) Lagos senators, that gifted PDP their AD mandate, resulting from former President Obasanjo’s AD destabilisation plot. The senator had the temerity to come back, in 2003, to re-contest the Lagos East senatorial seat on the PDP platform.

He was electorally guillotined — his seat given to Senator Nimbe Mamora, who after two distinguished terms, rose to become widely acknowledged as one of the finest senators of his age.

That 2002 sweet poison of soulless defection would come back to purge the federal ruling party, with the APC defection of Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, prompting the rash police invasion of the National Assembly. Talk of parents eating sour grapes and children’s teeth being set on edge!

Still, Mr. Ogunlewe was not done with Lagos. As President Obasanjo’s Works minister, he levied virtual war on Lagos, with his Federal Roads Maintenance Authority (FERMA) corps, that tried to elbow the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) corps from Lagos roads, claiming they had suzerainty over federal roads in Lagos.

In one of the senseless skirmishes, Mrs. Derin Disu, then chairman of Lagos Island Local Government, was thoroughly assaulted and harassed. Her “crime”? Having the temerity to confront Mr. Ogunlewe’s FERMA corps!

Mr. Ogunlewe’s partner in the Jimi Agbaje project, Chief George, has contributed little to the public space, except military conceit and insufferable arrogance. He invented the word “capture” for winning elections, so many times thundering the PDP would “capture Lagos”, a diction that has a ring of do-or-die, foul-or-fair menace. Even as military governor of old Ondo State (now Ondo and Ekiti states), George’s record was nothing to crow about.

Mr. Obanikoro too would follow Mr. Ogunlewe’s template of defecting to PDP with his Action Congress (AC) senatorial ticket, after ironically replacing the late Wahab Dosunmu, who committed a similar electoral perfidy by taking his AD ticket to PDP. Like Mr. Ogunlewe too, Mr. Obanikoro sought election (though as Lagos governor), but was defeated by Mr. Fashola.

Ironically too, both George and Obanikoro appear doomed to the Ogunlewe script. While Ogunlewe used FERMA to traumatise Lagos, Obanikoro has accused George of using the SURE-P cadre, a bric-a-brac federal corps noticeable on Lagos roads, as alleged armed bouncers to fix elections.

Obanikoro himself, as short-lived Defence minister of state (Army), wasn’t shy of despatching his soldiers to disrupt work at the Ilubinrin, Lagos Island housing project of the state government, aside from trotting them to try and fix elections at Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections in 2014.

This would appear Mr. Agbaje’s exalted company in his gubernatorial quest!

Mr. Ambode’s company? Former Governor Tinubu and the incumbent, Governor Fashola.

Now, in the eyes of the other camp, Tinubu is the worst that could ever afflict any polity. And Fashola is nothing but his eternal stooge! That might well be. Besides, one man’s meat is another man’s poison; and, in war, all would appear fair!

Still, on a less emotive plane, the Tinubu-Fashola lineage has brought a 1999 Lagos from its abyss of infrastructural decay, environmental paralysis and sheer anomie, depressing results of years of hopeless military rule; to a 2015 near-financially independent Lagos, renascent and vibrant, confident of facing its future, even if it is always work-in-progress.

Inversely, the PDP at the federal level, has brought a 1999 Nigeria, flush with cash but nevertheless inefficient and wasteful, to a 2015 Nigeria, broke and beggarly, set to enter again the debt trap, it only exited in 2005/2006. That is Mr. Agbaje’s preferred space shuttle into governance. Wish him the best of luck!

There is partisan muck, of course; of which both camps are not necessarily guiltless. Still, Mr. Ambode would appear rooted in an already established tradition of developmental Lagos, tested and proved, with verifiable results. That, with all due respect to his good name, cannot be said of Mr. Agbaje.

Ambode’s reported rich contribution to Lagos’ financial re-engineering is reassuring, giving the impression that with him, Lagos would remain in safe and tested hands, and not just passing to partisan rivals, bustling with a me-too syndrome, but hardly exhibiting any cogent reason it could raise Lagos higher.

That is the clear choice Lagos must make, between Mr. Agbaje and Mr. Ambode.

January 6, 2015