The Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has further demonstrated his commitment to achieve his administration’s agenda, tagged T.H.E.M.E, with the swearing in of new political appointees and Permanent Secretaries.
The official swearing-in ceremony was held on Monday, January 27, 2020, at the Lagos House Alausa Ikeja, amidst impressive turnout. The International Press Conference Hall, which hosted the event, was filled to its capacity with members of the Lagos State Executive Council, Permanent Secretaries, chieftains of the All Progressive Congress (APC), past and present members of the Federal and State House of Assembly, eminent dignitaries as well as family members, friends and well-wishers of the new appointees.
They had all come to felicitate with the appointees on one hand and also show their support for the Governor, who many have described as a silent performer.
Those sworn in were three members of the State Exco (A Commissioner and two Special Advisers), five members of the State’s Civil Service Commission and five Permanent Secretaries.
Two of these appointees are from Ikorodu. They are Mrs. Kafayat Ajenifuja and Mr. Adeshina Adeyemi, who were sworn-in as Permanent Secretary, Parastatal Monitoring Office and Commissioner in the Lagos State Civil Service Commission respectively.
The event was declared open around 12:00p.m with the national anthem, after the Governor, alongside his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat; Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, and Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Folasade Jaji, had taken their seats on the high table. This was followed by a brief welcome address by the Head of Service. In his address, Mr. Muri Okunola welcomed and congratulated the new appointees and their family members on the auspicious occasion while also stating that the event was first of its kind, where three different cadres of State Government officials would be sworn-in at the same time.
He described the Governor as a team player, stating that it was in this spirit that he appointed more hands to further deliver on the agenda set by his administration.
The Head of Service, after concluding his welcome address, immediately commenced the swearing-in as he eloquently read the brief but rich citations of the appointees in order of their cadres, after which the appointees came out and took a bow before taking their oath of office and oath of secrecy and later proceeded to the high table, where Mr. Governor signed and presented their letter of appointment to them one after the other to the admiration of the cheering gathering.
After the swearing-in proceedings, Engr. Tayo Bamgbose-Martins, who was sworn in as Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, while briefly responding on behalf of the other new appointees, thanked Governor Sanwo-Olu and the entire Lagos State Executive Council members for bestowing the honour of serving the State on them. While describing their appointments as a challenge to duty, he assured the Governor of their commitment to duty as well as hardwork and commitment to service, while also promising never to disappoint on the confidence reposed in them.
Meanwhile, Governor Sanwo-Olu, in his address at the event, congratulated the new appointees on their appointments and urged them to kick-off action immediately. He told them that they were called to serve from the pool of numerous competent and highly qualified Lagosians and said they must work hard to justify the confidence reposed in them with the appointment. Governor Sanwo-Olu urged the new appointees to further add value to his administration towards delivering democratic dividends to Lagosians.
In his words, “You have been brought on to add value in our quest to deliver the dividends of democracy to the citizens. We are pushing the emblem of our party and we have started implementing several programmes under our project T.H.E.M.E.S. We must remember that in four months’ time, we will be celebrating our first anniversary. The question that people will be asking is what we have done in one year. Time will come and time will go but it is what we do with time that prosperity will judge us with. The essence of this reminder is to keep each and every one of us on the go and to let you know that we need to hit the ground running.”
“We cannot afford to be complacent in our approach to governance because there is so much to be accomplished within the 1,460 days that we are rushing against and we cannot afford not to succeed because our success has indication for the mission’s wellbeing. We owe it a duty to live up to the reputation of Centre of Excellence through the injection of innovative and visionary ideas into governance.”
Also in the address, the Governor reiterated his administration’s determination to ensure that it delivers time bound and people-focused programmes that will positively impact Lagosians on a daily basis. The event was brought to a close with a marathon photograph session, which involved the Governor, his Deputy, top government officials, new appointees and their family members, friends as well as well-wishers.
The full list of the new appointees includes:
Political Appointees: Paul Bamgbose Martins (Commissioner for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations); Mr. Gbenga Oyerinde (Special Adviser to the Governor on Central Business District) and Mr. Ganiu Adele Ayuba (Special Adviser, Urban Development).
Permanent Secretaries: Mr. Olujimi Ige (Debt Management Office); Mrs. Kafayat Ajenifuja (Parastatal Monitoring Office); Mr. Hakeem Adeniji Oduyinka (Office of the Civil Management); Mr. Isaac Olushina Thorpe (Ministry of Information and Strategy); Dr. Aina Ayoola (Permanent Secretary, Primary Health Care Board).
Members of the Lagos State Civil Service Commission: Mrs. Regina Fabanwo (Chairman); Mr. Adeshina Odeyemi (Commissioner); Honourable Avoseh Suru (Commissioner); Honourable Kamal Olorunoje (Commissioner), and Barrister Babatunde Seriki (Commissioner).
