In continuation of National Mirror’s series on elected members of the executive and legislature across the country, FRANCIS SUBERU profiles the governor-elect and deputy governor-elect of the Centre of Excellence, Akinwunmi Ambode and his deputy, Oluranti Idiat Adebule.

Ambode was born on June 14, 1963 in Epe area of Lagos State to the family of Festus Akinwale and Christianah Oluleye (nee Oresanya) Ambode at the Epe General Hospital, Epe, Lagos, as the sixth of ten children of his parents. The senior Ambode was a teacher while his mother, Christianah, was an entrepreneur who ran a thriving sewing business in her prime.

At age four in 1967, the senior Ambode moved to the mainland part of Lagos with his family and continued his teaching career until his death in 1981.

Ambode began his education at St. Jude’s Primary School, Ebute Meta, Lagos, Nigeria in 1969. In 1974, while still in Primary Five, he sat for the National Common Entrance Examinations and was admitted to Federal Government College, FGC, Warri in the same year.

After his secondary school education at the Federal Government College Warri, he gained admission to study accounting at the prestigious University of Lagos, from where he graduated at the age of 21 years, in flying colours.

At 24, he had become a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, and finished a Masters degree in Accounting, specialising in Financial Management, also at the University of Lagos, via a Federal Government scholarship.

He also received a US Fulbright scholarship for the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship at Boston University in Massachusetts.

He is an alumnus of Wharton Business School Advance Management Programme and has attended courses at renowned institutions such as Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, England; the Institute of Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland, INSEAD, Singapore and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Boston, USA.

Married to Bolanle Patience Ambode, the Lagos State governor-elect is an accountant, administrator, public finance expert and a retired civil servant, who served Lagos State meritoriously for 27years; holding key positions across all cadres of the state’s civil service such as Auditor-General for local governments, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Accountant-General of Lagos State.

After his retirement from Lagos State civil service at age 49, Ambode established Brandsmiths Consulting Limited, a public finance and management consulting firm with deep knowledge of the Nigerian public sector.

The firm and its associates are presently working with state and Federal Government agencies to cut-over to the new IPSAS system of public accounting which takes effect from 2014.

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In December, 2014, he picked the gubernatorial ticket of the ruling All progressives Congress, APC, to contest the April 11 gubernatorial election.

He was elected governor of Lagos State on April 11, 2015 alongside Dr. Oluranti Idiay Adebule, defeating among other candidates, Mr Jimi Agbaje, the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. He is expected to be sworn-in on May 29, to succeed incumbent Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN.

Ambode is passionate about Lagos, about developing young leaders and professionals and contributing to the society from which he has gained so much.

Dr Oluranti Idiat Adebule Adebule was born in Lagos State to the family of Idowu-Esho of Ojo Alaworo in Ojo Local Government Area of the Centre of Excellence, on November 27, 1970.

She began her early education at Awori College, Ojo. Thereafter, she proceeded on admission to the Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo, bagging a Bachelor of Art in Education, B.A. Ed, degree in Islamic Studies in 1992.

She was back at the same institution for a Master’s degree in Curriculum Studies, graduating in 1997. She thereaftern bagged a certificate in Early Childhood Development Curriculum and School Administration and Assessment from the Nigeria Institute of International Education Association in 2006.

Still thirsting for more knowledge, she enrolled for and completed her doctorate degree, PhD in Curriculum Studies in 2012 also at the same Lagos State University.

Dr Adebule began her working career as an academic at the Lagos State College of Primary Education, LACOPED, Noforija, Epe as a lecturer in the department of Regovernor ligious Studies and later transferred her service to the Lagos State University as a lecturer in the department of Curriculum Studies and later Language Arts and Social Studies in the Faculty of Education.

While at the university, she served as member of various university committees including: Committee on Establishment of LASU International Secondary School; LASU Staff School Monitoring Committee; member, Association of Learners, and coordinator, LASU Sandwich Degree Programme, Osun State College of Education, Ilesha campus.

Her political career began when she was appointed as Commissioner 1 in the Lagos State Post Primary Teaching Service Commission, PP-TESCOM, now Teachers’ Establishment and Pensions Office, by former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in October, 2000. She served in that capacity till February, 2005 and later as board member of the Lagos State Scholarship Board between February and November, 2005.

Adebule was appointed and sworn in as the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, by the incumbent governor of Lagos State, Fashola, SAN, in July, 2011.

A consummate writer, Dr Adebule, has several local, national and international publications to her credit. These include: “Reading the Objective of Universal Basic Education in Nigeria;” “The Imperative of Religion and Peace in the Quest for Sustainable Development in Nigeria: The Plateau State Experience;” “The Effective Use of Educational Technology for Religious Teaching: Learning Amongst Secondary Schools in Lagos State, Nigeria,” to mention a few.

A wife, mother, mentor, and believer in the development of future leaders and a politician of repute, Dr Adebule’s interests include reading, travelling and community service.

She emerged the running mate to the APC gubernatorial candidate, Ambode, in December, 2014, to run for the governorship of Lagos state on APC platform in the April 11 gubernatorial poll and was emerged deputy governor-elect.

She would be sworn in, alongside her principal on May 29.

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