Akinwunmi Ambode was born on the 14th of June 1963 at Epe General Hospital, Lagos to the family of Festus Akinwale Ambode and Christianah Oluleye Ambode. He is one of ten children.
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Education

Ambode attended St. Jude’s Primary School, Ebute Metta, Lagos State, from 1969-1974, where he sat for the National Common Entrance Examinations. From 1974-1981, Ambode attended Federal Government College, Warri, Delta State. From 1981-1984, he attended the University of Lagos, Akoka where he studied Accounting, graduating at the age of 21. He also has a master’s degree in Accounting from the University of Lagos and he qualified as a chartered accountant. Ambode was awarded the Fulbright Program scholarship for the Hubert Humphries Fellowship Programme in Boston, Massachusetts. He also attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania for Advanced Management Programme. Other institutions he attended for courses and programmes include Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, England, the Institute of Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland, INSEAD, Singapore. Moreover, he attended the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Cambridge, USA.

Politics And Public Service

From 1988-91, Akinwunmi Ambode was the Assistant Treasurer, Badagry local government, Lagos State, Nigeria. In 1991, he was posted to Somolu Local Government, Lagos State, as an auditor. He has also held the position of Council Treasurer in Shomolu Local Government in later years. He also previously served as Council Treasurer at Alimosho Local Government, Lagos State. In 2001, he became acting Auditor General for Local Government, Lagos State, Nigeria. This position was confirmed by the State House of Assembly. In January 2005, Ambode was appointed the permanent secretary of the Lagos State Ministry of Finance. From 2006- 2012, Ambode was the 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) revolutionised 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 an average of 85% annually.
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Akinwunmi Ambode was a civil servant for 27 years and a financial consultant before running for public office. 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 the government at all levels, its parastatals and agencies. Ambode ran for the 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, just defeating the second-place candidate Jimi Agbaje of the People Democratic Party by 150,000 votes. He began his tenure as the governor of Lagos on the 29th of May 2015, succeeding former governor Babatunde Fashola. In 2019, Ambode lost in the gubernatorial primary election to Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, denying him an opportunity to run for a second term. He eventually supported the Babajide Sanwo-Olu campaign that brought about a smooth transition in the state.

Memberships

Ambode is an active member of the Federal Government College Lagos, Warri Old Students Association (FEGOCOWOSA) and is credited with revitalising 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.

Non-Profit Organisation

In 2013, 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. Sources: Manpower.com.ng Info Guide Africa Wikipedia Featured Image Source: Premium Times
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This article was first published on 25th November 2021 and updated on November 26th, 2021 at 9:58 am

jeremiah

Jeremiah is a scholar and a poet. He has a keen eye for studying the world and is passionate about people. He tweets at @jeremiahaluwong.

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