BEHOLD THE GOVERNOR OF LAGOS AKINWUNMI AMBODE, UNILAG ALLUMNI

Akinwunmi Ambode (born June 14, 1963), a Nigerian businessman, an activist and is the Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria. He was formerly the Accountant-General of Lagos State, as well as other positions in the state's government.

Ambode ran for office of the Governor of Lagos State in April 2015 as a member of the All Progressives Congress, the state's ruling party, he won the election, defeating the second-place candidate by more than 150,000 votes.He began his tenure as the governor of Lagos on 29 May 2015, he succeeded Babatunde Fashola

Civil service career

In January 2005, Ambode was redeployed to mainstream public service as the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance. By February 2006, Ambode was given the added responsibility of accountant general for Lagos State, in charge of all the financial activities of the state and directly responsible for over 1400 accountants in the state service. Under his watch, the State Treasury Office (STO) revolutionized the way Lagos State finances were raised, budgeted, managed and planned. In his six years as the Lagos State accountant general, the state's financial performance improved visibly with the budget performing at a remarkable average of 85% annually. Ambode believes that "public financial management is about ensuring that public money is well spent and it is made to stretch as far as possible. It provides leaders and public-sector managers with information to make decisions and to know if they are using resources effectively.

The public finance consultant

After 27 years in the civil service, Ambode voluntarily retired in August 2012. He founded Brandsmiths Consulting Limited to provide Public Finance and Management Consulting services to government at all levels, its parastatals and agencies.

Social engagement

Ambode is a very active member of the Federal Government College, Warri Old Students Association (FEGOCOWOSA) and is credited with revitalizing the Lagos branch of the Association. Ambode was a two-time chairman of the Lagos State Branch, and, until recently, was the National President of the Association, a position he held for three years. In those three years, he executed key projects in the school in conjunction with the alumni network to improve the educational and living standards of the students.

Community service

In 2012, he founded the non-profit La Roche Leadership Foundation. Its recent goal is to install Nigerian and Lagos State flags in all government owned schools in Lagos State.