Sanwo-Olu Swears in 37 Commissioners, Special Advisers

•Says no bickering between executive, legislature

Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, yesterday, swore in 37 commissioners and special advisers, charging them to engage collaboratively and work together to build on the successes of the incumbent administration’s first four years in office.

The state executive council, which is a mixture of politicians and technocrats with 29 male and eight female, was made up of 18 returning members of the immediate past cabinet members and 19 new names.

Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony of the State Executive Council held at Adeyemi Bero Auditorium, Alausa, Ikeja, Governor Sanwo-Olu, who charged his team to do their best to surpass the expectations of Lagos residents, also dismissed insinuations of bickering with the state assembly. 

He said the new cabinet has been carefully and painstakingly chosen, adding that,”They are, by any measure, some of our best brains, not just in Lagos State, but right around the country. These are men and women, who can and will hold their own anywhere in the world.

“They are emblems of what Lagos State is all about – a Centre of Excellence. Lagosians should, therefore, rejoice in their selection and be expectant of quality service and performance in the months and years ahead.

“The task of this new cabinet is clear. It is to build on the successes of our administration’s first four years in office. It is to take our people closer to our dream of a Greater Lagos. The expectations of our people have never been higher than they are right now.

“Doing your best to meet them is therefore not an option. It is the least you will be expected to do. Lagos is the Centre of Excellence; your work must be excellent in every ramification.

“Working together, carrying the people along, keeping your feet on the ground, and ensuring that every decision you take has the best interest of our people at the heart of it, are the surest ways to succeed. May God guide you in the effective discharge of your onerous responsibilities.”

On the controversy that trailed the screening and confirmation of the nominees by the Lagos State House of Assembly, he said there was no bickering between the executive and legislature. 

He said: “I am not unaware of the feelings in some quarters that the initial rejection of some nominees by the Lagos State House of Assembly, necessitating the submission of a revised list of nominees, signified a call to arms between the Executive and the Legislature.

“I reject such feelings in totality. Were the Executive designed to be omnipotent and omniscient, the very important oversight function of the Legislature would be needless. Thankfully, our constitution recognises that our people will be best served with a system of Checks and Balances that is led by independent bodies in each Arm of Government.

“This system demands collaboration, and a willingness to give and take without rancour. That is what the Executive and Legislature of Lagos State, in the past few weeks, have fully demonstrated in arriving at this event today. I thank the Right Honourable Speaker and all members of the Lagos State House of Assembly for their diligence, cooperation and contribution.”