Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said deputy governors in the state are treated as partners in governance rather than officials kept in reserve, citing his working relationship with his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat.
In a post on X on Friday, Sanwo-Olu recalled how party leaders prevailed on Hamzat to step aside for him during the 2018 governorship race, despite Hamzat’s ambition to become governor.
According to him, Hamzat had spent 13 years in public service under former governors Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola and had the experience and political backing to contest for the position.
However, he said Hamzat accepted the party leaders’ decision without resentment and agreed to run alongside him five weeks later.
‘It takes a rare man to put down what he wants without nursing a grudge. Femi shook my hand and five weeks later, agreed to run beside me. I have never forgotten that,’ Sanwo-Olu said.
The governor said his seven-year working relationship with Hamzat had given him a deeper understanding of his character beyond what could be seen in his public profile.
‘Anyone can read a CV but only the person in the room with a man when the cameras leave can tell you who he really is. For 2,711 days, I have been in that room with him,’ he added.
Sanwo-Olu said Hamzat had remained committed to the administration through challenging periods and major infrastructure projects, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the operation of the Lagos Blue and Red Rail Lines and the opening of the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
‘When COVID-19 hit, when we faced our hardest weeks, when the Blue and Red Lines ran and when the Lekki Deep Sea Port opened, Femi was there,’ he said.
He added that Hamzat’s engineering background made him actively involved in assessing major projects before their completion.
‘Long before any ribbon was cut, he was asking the tough questions an engineer asks,’ the governor said.
Highlighting the role of deputy governors in Lagos, Sanwo-Olu said the state had maintained a governance structure in which they were actively involved in decision-making and administration.
‘In many states, deputies are kept in reserve. On day one, Femi promised to be the best deputy governor in Lagos history. He kept his word,’ he said.
The governor added that their relationship had been characterised by trust and a shared commitment to the administration’s objectives.
‘In seven years, there has not been a single day I wondered whose side he was on. We have had one government, one direction, and one voice,’ he said.
Sanwo-Olu also highlighted Hamzat’s previous contributions to Lagos State, noting that he built the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge under Fashola’s administration and contributed to the digitisation of government under Tinubu.
He further noted that Hamzat holds a doctorate in engineering and comes from a family with a history of public service, as his father served under former Governor Lateef Jakande.
The governor described Lagos’ succession arrangement as a process built on continuity, comparing it to a relay race in which outgoing and incoming leaders work together to maintain the pace of development.
‘Lagos runs on a relay system. The baton is never passed to a runner standing still. You run at full speed inside the exchange zone, together, before the pass,’ he said.
Sanwo-Olu said the approach had shaped the state’s leadership transitions over the past 27 years, from Tinubu to Fashola, Akinwunmi Ambode and his administration.
Addressing criticism that Lagos continued to select its leaders from the same political circle, he argued that the state was building on the experience of people familiar with its development plans.
‘Critics say Lagos keeps choosing from the same pool. I say Lagos trains its people,’ he said.
He added that the state’s ongoing projects and development master plan extending to 2052 made continuity an important consideration.
‘What Femi presents today is not a campaign promise cooked up on a bus, it is the next leg of a race we have been running since 1999,’ Sanwo-Olu said.
Concluding his message, the governor reiterated that Lagos’ leadership transition was built on preparing successors to continue ongoing development projects.
‘Lagos does not hand the baton to a man standing still. Today, you have seen the man who is already running. Let us move forward together with The Lagos PROMISE,’ he said.