July 11, 2015 – Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode is yet to name commissioners, 45 days since he was sworn in as governor.
It is not clear when he will name the commissioners, but sources in Alausa are attributing the delay to inability of President Muhammadu Buhari to name his ministers.
We gathered that the national leader of the All Progressive Congress(APC), Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu who has often saddled himself with the responsibility of picking commissioners for the state is waiting for Buhari to name his cabinet to enable him accommodate those who will be left out in the cabinet of Ambode in Lagos.
So far, the governor has only been able to name just three people in his kitchen cabinet. They are Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tunji Bello, Chief of Staff, Samuel Olukunle-Ojo and Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna.
Besides, these appointment, he has in the last 45 days been able to dissolve some boards and appointed new heads of government agencies.
So far salaries of civil servants have been paid by 23rd which sources say is indicative of financial buoyancy of the government despite a debt of N418.203 billion which was left for him by the previous administration. Lagos State currently makes N23 billion from Internally Generated Revenue(IGR) every month.
So far, the governor has been able to put in place very tight financial measures which seems to have slowed down activities. The present state of the 2015 budget of N489.69 billion has also been another source of headache which dependable sources say was almost spent by the previous administration by May ending.
We gathered that Ambode may be left with no option than to reorder the budget to be able to bring stability to government in the shortest possible time and continue with some stalled capital projects initiated by his predecessor.
