Babajide Sanwo-Olu is the Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria’s commercial capital, now in his second and final term. A former banker who held several cabinet posts under Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola, he was elected in 2019 and re-elected in 2023.12

Early life and career

Sanwo-Olu was born in Lagos on 25 June 1965. He studied surveying and business administration at the University of Lagos and worked as a treasury banker at Lead Merchant Bank, UBA and First Inland Bank. He joined the Lagos State government in 2003 and served as a commissioner under Tinubu and Fashola, then ran the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation.1

Elections

With Tinubu’s backing he defeated the incumbent, Akinwunmi Ambode, in the APC primary in 2018 and won the 2019 election. In March 2023 he was re-elected with 762,134 votes against 312,329 for the Labour Party’s Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour. The election was marred by violence and ethnic tension in parts of the state. The tribunal dismissed the petitions against him in September 2023.12

Governor (2019–present)

His government completed the first phases of the Lagos Blue Line and Red Line urban railways, which opened to passengers in 2023 and 2024, alongside road and bus-corridor projects.3

The defining crisis of his first term was the #EndSARS protest against police brutality in October 2020. On the night of 20 October soldiers fired on protesters at the Lekki toll gate. A judicial panel set up by the state found that soldiers had shot at unarmed protesters and called it a massacre; the state government’s white paper rejected the term “massacre” and disputed the panel’s casualty figures, while accepting some of its other recommendations.45

He cannot run again in 2027; the APC’s candidate to succeed him is his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat.2

Personal life

Sanwo-Olu is married to Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, and they have four children. He is a Christian.1

References

  1. Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Wikipedia, accessed October 2026. ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

  2. Lagos governorship elections since 1999. elect.ng, October 2026. ↩ ↩ ↩

  3. Lagos Rail Mass Transit. Wikipedia, accessed October 2026. ↩

  4. Breaking: Lagos releases white paper on Lekki panel report. ThisDay, 30 November 2021. ↩

  5. White paper: Lagos govt rejects massacre claim at Lekki toll gate. Channels Television, 1 December 2021. ↩