The man who would be next Lagos governor
Lagosians, and even outsiders, have been expressing worry about who will take over from Governor Babatunde Fashola to continue the transformation of the state.
If you believe media reports – and follow the sign of the times – Akinwunmi Ambode is the man positioned to take over from him next year.
That is assuming the All Progressives Congress (APC), the dominant party in the state, wins the governorship election next year – or even that Ambode’s candidature is successfully sold to other APC governorship aspirants.
Tinubu appointed him permanent secretary, ministry of finance
Although some Lagos indigenes recently warned against a “non-indigene” succeeding Fashola (and this is understood to be a veiled opposition to Ambode), early signs are that the current CEO of Bransmiths Consulting is the preferred candidate of the power brokers in APC.
Beside the calculations, permutations and deductions, who is Ambode? If indeed he is the Chosen One, how much do Lagosians know about him?
Here are 12 interesting facts about him.
1. He will be 50 in June. He was born on June 14, 1964 and began his education at St. Jude’s Primary School Ebutte Meta in 1969.
2. In 1974, he gained admission into Federal Government College, Warri from Primary 5 and recorded the second best result in West Africa in the Higher School certificate examinations in 1981.
Ambode graduated from Unilag at 21
3. He graduated with honours in Accounting from the University of Lagos at 21.
4. By the time he was 24, he had completed his Masters degree in Accounting on a Federal Government Scholarship and had also became a Chartered Accountant.
5. Upon graduation, he opted to serve in the Lagos State civil service and rose rapidly through the ranks from a junior accountant to become the Auditor-General for Local Governments and later the Lagos State Accountant-General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance.
6. He is credited with revolutionising service in the sector which resulted in the state’s budget performing above 80% annually.
7. He earned the award of a US Fullbright Scholarship for the Hubert Humphries Fellowship Programme in Boston Massachusetts. He attended Boston University between 1998/1999 to study Public Leadership with emphasis on Finance and Accounting.
8. After spending 27 in the Civil Service, he voluntarily retired in August 2012 and established Brandsmiths Consulting Limited.
9. He is an alumnus of Wharton Business School Advance Management Programme. He also attended courses at renowned institutions such as Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, UK, the Institute of Management Development Lausanne, Switzerland, INSEAD Singapore and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Boston.
10. He is an author. He wrote a book, Public Sector Accounting, in order to share his knowledge and experiences. This book dissects and simplifies government accounting system from the Local government level through the various strata to the state and federal levels.
Ambode (first right) was entertainment prefect at FGC, Warri
11. His life has been chronicled in a biography, The Art of Selfless Service. This book tells the story of his life: giving back to humanity, his community and his mission.
12. He set up La Roche Leadership Foundation in 2012 for mentorship and leadership development.
if dis guy truly becomes d gov.of Lagos state as u claim den u guys are taking over my favourit newspaper which is thisdaylive. And u'll be d leader. My fingers are cross. Mainwhile ur site are kind of slow to open. Welcome on board.
The site is slow due to high traffic, but we are resolving this and it should be better shortly. Thanks.
I was very happy when I got to know last week that Simon Kolawole is going into online journalism through THE CABLE. I have been his follower/lover since his days @ ThisDay Newspaper. Welcome onboard the Cable. I wish u success as u debut.
this is to congratulate Simon Kolawole for the successful birth of the cable. As for Ambode, he seems to have the pedigree. let's wait and see.
Congrats to Simon and the team. Best wishes to Mr Ambode.
Welcome !
I am holding The Cable to a higher standard of journalism given the brains behind it. I have to say though that this reads more like a Wikipedia entry than a well-researched, analytic profile on someone who might very well be the "next governor of Lagos State".
Who credits with him "revolutionalizing" public sector accounting?
What practices did he introduce? How did he impact budget performance? What are we likely to expect with him as governor? Etc
Please give your readers more credit for intelligence and engage in actual journalism not just reporting.
Hello Sir!Congrats on the debut of ur newspaper.This is a project destined for great success. Sent a mail to your Thisday column's email address.No response yet.
Will love to work 4u if its on a freelance basis. Thanks.
If indeed the APC power brokers have anointed Ambode to take over from Fashola, then they have successfully delivered a deadly blow on the other other parties and APC is destined to retain Lagos State.
The Cable on paper is good one to online newspaper. pls improve on the speed. You are welcome.
Congrats Boss! I'm happy for you.
Welcome on board Simon and TheCable.
I hope you are not xeroxing from the renowned cash-and carry journalism of your former camp, Nduka's ThisDay.I said this because of noticed semblances with your old stable. Layout-wise, one can ha4dly separate the two, while editorially, the also appear similar. The style has not been better also. As debutant, the quality of your story has not been great either. This medium must carve a niche for itself- well away from the existing crowd. You have a great job outdoing Premium Times which has already carved itself in people's minds. The choices before you are obvious- either stay with the people and stsy for long or decide to cast your lot with the powers-that-be, which in that case guarantees filthy lucre and loss or honour and credibility. TheCable, at this period of our national life cannot afford to sit on the fence-you either belong in or belong out. We must know what you stand for. In addition, I believe removing byelines from stories, does not cover such stories in glory and makes the medium's management looks exploitative and unwilling to market stars. For now, the jury is still out on TheCable.
It is ok,as long as he can deliver .We acknowledge his laudable educational achievement in the past including his service but I personally cannot ignore the role of meddling Godfather in Nigeria politics….how it might affect his ability to deliver .We know Fashola was able to manage well…hope he can do same.
Welcome on board. I am happy you have taken up the challenge of having your own newspaper,much more better online.
we pray a swell success of the wonderful venture in Jesus name
Kudos to Simeon Kolawole for this bols initiative. AS for Ambode and Lagos 2015, the man has demonstrated has demonstrated academic and professional excellence as well as proven record achievement in professional career and vocational responsibilities. All over the world, there is godfatherism so long as it is applied in the interest of the people. Democracy is all about the people. This people look to individual(s) to lead them. The silence of PDP thus far in bringing up a name demonstrates total submission to the masterstrokes played by APC in anointing a technocrat of Akinwunmi Ambode's pedigree.
Welcome on board SK. I'm sure I'll be hooked to this site for your ever interesting news. How soon are we getting the mobile version?
Very soon. The general public will be notified once the mobile version is ready. Thanks.
so happy to have u on d tip of our fingers now unlike Sunday Sunday…….
The wisdom of God wil continue working for u sir.
THECABLE
1 LOVE
With Cable.ng on board, there is no place by our politicians.
Well said !
This looks real good. Wish you much success ahead, SK
i love your presentation. may GOD BLESS your doings
I wish Mr Ambode well. I pray he is as good as people say. I have heard so much about him, particular how is able is simplify governance and many activities in general. I was opportune to have met him once at a function in Paris and he came across as a humble, down-to-earth pragmatic man. Hardly do you find people resigning voluntarily from government to go into private sector. You also have to give it to him for dedicating himself to public service when his qualifications/pedigree would have favoured him in the highly paid private sector. Best wishes to him.
The beauty of our democracy is to allow people to choose their representative. Yes AA is good but if we limit our scope on him how do we discover others. Fashola was never in the rader in 2007 while the searchlights was on. We should but institution not personality. Let more fellows comes and out and go through primary as stated in our party constitution. Whoever emerge thereafter will have the support of the entire people of Lagos State. Goodluck AA
The guy appears sound in my assessment. He appears to be another joker like Fashola. You can accuse Tinubu of anything, but one thing he has going for him is quality candidates, compared to PDP thugs, which makes even non-partisna neutrals that don't like Tinubu not able to reject his candidate.
more grace 2 ur elbow my humble boss, God will continue 2 strenthen u and team. tanks 4 d updates. gud 1 sir.
SK is my all time favorite columnist. My Sunday is never complete without reading SKL in Thisday. I wish you all the best in your new endeavor. We are waiting eagerly for the mobile version of The Cable.
Bullseye! Need I say more!!
WELCOME ON BOARD SIR. MORE GRACE SIR
I'm happy to identify once again with the Cable through my friend Simon Kolawole Live of Thisday who are enjoy reading his articles.
Welcome on board and wish the Cable high return to shareholders
Regards
You're welcome Mr Ambode. I'm not a Lagosian but am happy with the achievement of Fashola, pls if Mr Ambode think he'll perform below what Fashola is doing now he should pls step aside. Thank you.
Who told you he resigned voluntarily? He was forced to resign. The reasons would soon be published if he becomes the candidate and that's a big IF
The problem with this country is that there are many brilliant people in government but the effect they have on the lives of the people is like a drop in the ocean while the effect on their own lives is like winning the National Lottery! Why do people go into government and come out richer? Can this person solve that problem for Lagos State? If he can't there will be nothing to be excited about regarding his achievements because it will simply be business as usual.
His credential looks impressive. We need people with ideas and will to execute to move us forward.
Welcome on board!
It's yet another joker,just like the way it was with the incumbent, Fashola. Ambode is highly cerebral and humane. Story are replete with his achievements as the Accountant General of the State. Besides, there is a working template for Lagos and with the array of supporting lieutenants, Lagos will soon be on another emulatable journey of achievements. The bar is higher now.
This is highly informative. It is hoped that Lagos will be a better and more accomodating place for us. In my opinion, the Lagos State Govt. Should be doing even more considering its revenue if only the state can cease to be the cash cow of APC. There are so many abandoned projects … Lekki/Epe expressway is a good example. Tolling yet the project is incomplete, that's a rip-off.
You are welcome on board Mr Simon, pls keep saying the truth as we've ever known you for that congratulations and more grease to your elbow. cheers.
Godbless all d staff of cable for d way they analyse dere point
Yemisi aptly captured the reporting system of TheCable well in her criticism. The paper should not act like wikipedia or may I say ‘wikitell’ just scrathing issues of importance at the surface. Factual, educative and indepth details associated with an issue or news report would make a good read as well as stimulate the intellectual hunger of the reader. Expecting to see you carve a niche for yourself. Well done all the same.
I agree entirely with Yemi’s comment. What you guys have written about AA is not different from what has been put out since his induction @ Epe recently.
For instance, what is his middle name. In view of the religion kite being thrown up by the Xtian community in Lagos, this is an issue that matters to this class of people and it should not be ignored or swept under the carpet. Also retiring voluntarily from civil service, attending foreign universities and writing a book are all ground work for this current ambition. There is nothing wrong with these, but let us not be hoodwinked by it. If you have a godfather with deep pocket it’s easy to upgrade yourself in a very short while and end up with an intimidating resume. Welcome on board whilst hoping you’ll prove yourself worthy of the time we spend on your site. By the way the report on the Sudan University make an interesting read. Thank you.
I agree entirely with Yemi’s comment. What you guys have written about AA is not different from what has been put out since his induction @ Epe recently.
For instance, what is his middle name. In view of the religion kite being thrown up by the Xtian community in Lagos, this is an issue that matters to this class of people and it should not be ignored or swept under the carpet. Also retiring voluntarily from civil service, attending foreign universities and writing a book are all ground work for this current ambition. There is nothing wrong with these, but let us not be hoodwinked by them. If you have a godfather with deep pocket it’s easy to upgrade yourself in a very short while and end up with an intimidating resume.
Welcome on board whilst hoping you’ll prove yourself worthy of the time we spend on your site. By the way the report on the Sudan University make an interesting read. Thank you.
hmmm. A few things to note: 1. Elections are not won with media campaigns and glowing CV renditions 2. It is likely that the successor to BRF will come the same way he came – by surprise! 3. Lagos requires execution-minded diplomats who are driven by transformation and change. Accountants tend to follow a script and are quite resistant to change. 4. Lastly, Lagosians are praying that the best man wins….may our prayers be heard.
This is a great effort. The site is contents-rich and excellent font type coupled with great layout.
Please ensure that you properly school the online contributors to your news items that they maintain decorum and respect for other people’s views.
The online version of some respected news media have been turned to junk as a result of this unprofessional comments.
I am an avid reader of SK column. You ve always been very analytical in my reckoning. And I ll love to see my own improve on what others do. We want journalism more than we want reporting. I know u ll do just that for us. Thanks for the ones u ve done.
Good cv/packaging & marketing but that’s not all. What methinks Lagos needs is deliverance from BAT and AlphaBeta. How come as Acct. Gen. & Auditor General Lagos IGR is still through consultants? Will this continue if he becomes Gov? Cant the civil service now do it after learning from AB for probably 12years? These are questions begging for answers. God save and bless Nigeria.