Lagos 2019: Profile Of Jimi Agbaje And Jide Sanwoolu

The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Jimi Agbaje is a pharmacist and politician. Agbaje, a 62-year-old he’s running for the office of Lagos Governor for the third time, on the platform.

Agbaje contested for the office of Governor of Lagos on the platform of the Democratic People’s Alliance (DPA) in 2007 and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015.

Agbaje was one of the founding fathers of the defunct Action Congress (AC). He left the party alongside 11 other aspirants when it discovered that Bola Tinubu had already anointed Babatunde Raji Fashola for the AC governorship flag-bearer for Lagos in 2006. 

Agbaje has hinged his 2019 governorship campaign on freeing Lagos. He described Lagos has been in bondage.

“So, we’re talking about freedom in the sense that we want to be able to have access to how exactly they are running our government. We talk about freedom where, in the last 20 years, Lagos has spent some N7tn and we’re asking, ‘What have we got for N7tn? Have we got value for money?’

“Now, there is a private company that takes a percentage of that N7tn, and we’re asking, ‘For what purpose?’ There is a private company fund collector, Alphabeta or whatever, that collects – we don’t even know what the percentage is. It could be 10 or 12 (per cent), eight or six (per cent)”,Agbaje was quoted saying at a rally in Lagos.

Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu

The governorship candidate of the ruling party, the All Progressive Party (APC), Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu is a 53-year-old renowned banker and politician.

He served as Treasurer at former Lead Merchant Bank Plc between 1994 and 1997.

Sanwo-Olu was also Head, Foreign Money market and Deputy General Manager at United Bank for Africa (UBA).

He was also Deputy General Manager, Divisional Head, at First Inland Bank, Plc (now First City Monument Bank).

In 2003, the then Deputy Governor of Bola Tinu, Femi Pedro appointed Sanwo-Olu his Special Adviser on Corporate Matters.

In 2007, as the Tinubu era wound to a close, Sanwo-Olu was appointed Commissioner for Commerce and Industry.

Between 2007 and 2015, Sanwo-Olu served as Babatunde Fashola’s Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions.

He is a pioneer and board member of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund and Managing Director of the Lagos State Property Development Commission (LSPDC).

Sanwo-Olu’s development agenda for Lagos is predicated on 5 pillars called THEME where: 

T=Traffic management and Transportation

H=Health and Environment

E=Education and Technology

M=Making Lagos a 21st century economy

E= Entertainment and Tourism

Sanwo-Olu has promised to “reduce traffic congestion by resolving key gridlock points within 6 months, continuously fix all potholes and maintain our roads all year round, provide intelligent transport systems to optimize the transport network, provide appropriate incentives for ISPs to implement a broadband rollout for affordable internet access to businesses and homes across Lagos within two years”.