Babatunde Fashola

Babatunde Fashola Biography / Profile

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, was born in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria on June 28th, 1963 to Alhaji Ademola Fashola and Cecilia Omolara Fashola. Elected the thirteenth Governor of the State on May 29th, 2007 and overwhelmingly re-elected for a second term on April 26th, 2011, his second term tenure came to a glorious end on May 29th, 2015 with the swearing in of Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, his successor from the same All Progressives Congress.

Babatunde Fashola Age

Babatunde Fashola is 60 years old.

Babatunde Fashola Early Life

Born into a large family, his siblings include Demola Fashola, Olayinka Fashola, Adewale Fashola, Yinka Fashola, Omolara Fashola, Bola Agunbiade, Femi Agunbiade, Ademola Fashola, Arinola Fuwa, Ademola Keji Fashola, Ademola Fashola Jnr, and Bisi Ikuforiji.

Fashola grew up in Lagos where he attended Birch Freeman High school Lagos and Igbobi College Lagos. He studied Law at the University of Benin from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws, LL.B. (Hons), degree in 1987.

Babatunde Fashola Career

After undergoing the mandatory NYSC programme in Bendel State ( Now Edo State), Fashola returned to Lagos and joined Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe and Belgore; the law firm of K.O.Tinubu and Company where he had a distinguished career as a Lawyer. In his role as Managing Partner and Lead Counsel, Fashola successfully pleaded many cases at various courts, including the Supreme Court. In August 2004, he was conferred with the rank of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria [SAN], Nigeria's highest legal distinction. He is the first member of the 1988 Law School set to take the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria, and the Second University of Benin Faculty of Law graduate to be so honoured.

A member of the Nigerian and International Bar Association, and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Babatunde Raji Fashola commenced his tenure as the elected Governor of Lagos on May 29th, 2007. Babatunde Fashola kickstarted his governorship with a vow to rehabilitate the state's public schools, and to transform the state to a megacity. He made giant strides on both fronts, and by the time he left office, Lagos had been given a huge facelift, if not completely transformed. Also among his achievements while in office was the appeal he raised to raise money for victims of the Haiti earthquake in 2010. The funds raised were used to assist the victims of the quake.

In January 2010, the Lagos State House of Assembly launched an investigation into possible mishandling of tax payers' money by Fashola. The group carrying out the investigation was known as the "True Face of Lagos". The final reports were due to be submitted on February 15th, 2010, but the True Face of Lagos was later abolished. There were attempts to re-launch the probes through a petition, but such maneuvers were turned down by the court. In 2015, further reports emerged of an alleged misappropriation of funds involving Fashola. It was alleged that he had signed for the release of N78m from the state's treasury. The money was said to be for the upgrade of his personal website. Fashola responded to the allegations, saying that though the money had indeed been signed off, it was for several other things apart from the website upgrade.

Throughout his tenure as Governor of Lagos State from 2007- 2015, Fashola demonstrated a commitment to excellence in public service and an uncommon dedication to his avowed pledge to lead the change that will transform Lagos into Africa's model mega-city. Both nationally and internationally, he was acclaimed as one of the bright hopes for the future of Nigeria, and one of the very progressive Governors determined to reclaim Nigeria's past glories through competent and transparent leadership.

During his tenure in office, he served in various Ad-hoc Committees of the Federal Government in different capacities. He was a member of the Presidential Committee on the Review of Tariffs charged with the responsibilities of reviewing the current tariff structure and fiscal incentives in Nigeria, identifying barriers to investments and recommending strategic initiatives that would promote foreign direct investment and ultimately stimulate economic growth. Fashola was the Chairman of the Governors' Forum Committees set up to formulate the Rules and Regulations guiding succession to leadership of the Forum, to review the Revenue Allocation Formula for Nigeria and make appropriate recommendations by which the State Governments would engage critical stakeholders to find an equitable revenue formula for the country.

As the Chairman of the Strategy Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which drafted the manifesto of the party for the 2015 General Elections, Mr Fashola was also the Head of the Fund Raising Committee for the Buhari-Osinbajo Campaign Committee. He is Patron, Institute of Arbitrators (CIA), Member, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA); Member, International Bar Association (IBA); Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN); Notary Public of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. He is a recipient of several awards and Certificates of Merit, Legal Practitioner, Administrator, Management Consultant, Team Player and a detribalised Nigerian.

On November 11th 2015, he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari to be the Minister of Power, Works and Housing.

Babatunde Fashola Personal Life

A Muslim, Fashola, is married to a Christian wife, Dame Emmanuella Abimbola Fashola, and they are blessed with children. He is a well-recognised sportsman who loves playing and watching football, and is an ardent fan of Manchester United Football Club of England. He also enjoys swimming, billiards, snooker, lawn tennis and squash. He belongs to a number of social clubs, notably Eko Club, Island Club, Ikoyi Club, Lagos Lawn Tennis Club and Eagle Club, Surulere.

Babatunde Fashola Awards

Fashola is the recipient of the prestigious Stephen J. Solarz Award of the International Crisis Group for 2015 for his commitment to building a peaceful and vibrant society; his work to improve social and economic conditions in Lagos including his role in preventing the Ebola outbreak from becoming a crisis in Nigeria. He was listed in 2014 as one of the 100 Top Global Thinkers for 2013 by a global personality assessment organisation, Lo Spazio della Politica (LSDP) based in Italy and Brussels. TIME Magazine has commended him for "the overhaul of Lagos infrastructure" while The Economist Magazine acknowledged him as "a rare good man" and a Governor "who does his job well." He also won the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) 2011 Award for Commitment towards the global promotion of Public Transportation, among numerous others.

In Nigeria, Fashola is the recipient of the popular Man of the Year Award of The Guardian (2009), The Vanguard (2009) , The SUN (2009), the Champion (2010) and the City People (2012) . He also received the Corporate Governance Award 2012 from the Governing Council of the Institute of Directors and was equally presented the Most Labour-friendly Governor's Award 2012 by the Lagos Zonal Council of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

At the Year 2014 Newswatch Awards organised by the Newswatch Communications Limited, publishers of Newswatch Magazine and Daily Newswatch, Mr. Fashola won three Awards-Governor of the Year (Internal Revenue Generation); Governor of the Year (Internal Security) and Governor of the Year (Health) .