Wale Jagun
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Thursday, swore in seven new Special Advisers into the State Executive Council.
According to the Governor, the cabinet members were inaugurated to revitalise the administration’s effort towards improving good governance and service delivery.
Five of the appointees are newcomers, who filled in vacant positions, following the voluntary resignation of previous occupants. Two, who previously resigned from the cabinet, were returned to take back their positions.
Sanwo-Olu, while performing the ceremony at the State Banquet Hall in Alausa, Ikeja, said his government considered seamless continuity in governance important, while charging the new cabinet members to hit the ground running in delivering more electoral promises of the administration to the residents.
“Today, we are bringing in new Special Advisers to replace those who voluntarily left the State’s Executive Council in previous months to pursue their political ambitions. As cabinet members, you join a small but privileged class of people whose ideas and decisions go a long way towards impacting the lives of millions of Lagosians on a daily basis”, the governor said.
“Your appointment is a testament to your capacity, your accomplishments and your track record of hard work, commitment, dedication and professionalism in your private and public endeavours. Your role, as you might have imagined, is a demanding one, requiring intense levels of hard work and dedication. You are expected to hit the ground running, especially considering that we are in the final year of our first term in office.”
The Governor reminded the new cabinet appointees of the need to get themselves familiarised with their assigned portfolios in order to sustain and improve on the tempo of their predecessors, noting that their entry into the Council came in the last lap of the administration’s first four-year mandate when the State was consolidating on the programmes across the T.H.E.M.E.S areas.
Sanwo-Olu praised the State’s legislature, led by Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, for granting an accelerated approval for the appointment of the new members.
“Let me remind you all that this appointment must not be seen as an opportunity for self-service. While you discharge the responsibilities that will be assigned to you, you must imbibe our culture of transparency, accountability, fairness and value for money. You must show exemplary leadership as the necessary virtues needed to achieve the greatness we desire for our State and to deliver the prosperity our people deserve”, he said.
The Governor, thereafter, assigned portfolios to the new cabinet members, appointing former member of the eighth Assembly in the State’s legislative arm, Hon. Sola Giwa as Special Adviser on Transportation.
Until his new appointment, Hon. Giwa was the Senior Special Assistant on Central Business District (CBD) to the Governor.
The Governor reappointed Princess Aderemi Adebowale as Special Adviser on Civic Engagement, the position she previously occupied.
Also, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka was reappointed as Special Adviser on Housing.
Other appointees are Dr. Olajide Babatunde (Special Adviser on e-GIS and Planning Matters), Engr. Abiola Olowu (Special Adviser on Commerce and Industries), Mr. Robert Bolaji (Special Adviser on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs) and Mr. Olufemi Martins (Special Adviser on Tourism).
Benson-Awoyinka, who delivered the acceptance speech on behalf of the new appointees, appreciated the Governor for his faith in the appointees’ ability, pledging to work with Sanwo-Olu to deliver the Lagos of citizens’ dream.
