Lagos: Fashola sworn in for second term

In Lagos today, Mr. Babatunde Fashola was sworn in as Governor of Lagos State, for the second term. In his inauguration address, he promised to give his best and move Lagos forward.

The grand ceremony held at the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, where thousands of Lagosians gathered.  The governor and his deputy, Mrs. Victoria Orelope-Adefulire were sworn in by the Chief Judge of Lagos, Justice Inumindun Akande.

Excerpts of his inauguration address

“I understand the import of that mandate. It is a mandate in support of the continuation of the transformation we have collectively achieved in the last four years. It is a mandate for good governance. It is a mandate for the continuation of the people oriented policies that take us daily towards the brighter and rewarding future.

“Let me assure you all that as leader of the team, I cherish the mandate, I am fully conscious of the import for your hopes and aspirations and I remain as committed today as I was in 2007 to do my very best to remain worthy of this mandate,” he said.


The governor renewed his commitment to law and order, saying that, “we will invest in security and safety to further reduce crime; and we will be fair, firm and uncompromising in enforcing the laws.

“If we must equal and exceed the standards of those societies by whose performance we assess ourselves, and I am certain that we can, then we must all reach a consensus from today to play by the rules, such as paying our taxes, driving in the proper way and on the proper lanes, trading in the proper and designated places, building only in proper and designated places and doing everything in accordance with the rules.

“As a government, our task in meeting your expectations will certainly be made more easy if we all submit ourselves equally to the rules and regulations of our daily interactions and businesses, because not only will voluntary compliance reduce our cost of enforcement and citizens’ contact with law enforcement agents, it will leave your government with more time and resources to focus on developmental issues that improve our lives collectively; a lawful and orderly society will certainly benefit more people,” he added.

According to Fashola, “it is perhaps also important for me to state that while we will do our best to run an inclusive government, we must remain mindful of, and balance the enormous costs associated with running a large government, with the aspiration of an all inclusive government.

“Our policies and programmes have never sought and will not seek to discriminate against any person. We understand our limitations as human beings and our inability sometimes to fully foresee and accurately predict the encompassing ramifications of the implementation of some of our policies and programmes.

”Fashola, however, advised that “in all these expectations, we will be limited only by resources, especially those of a financial nature that are available to us, and certainly not by our own complacency, passion or desire to work hard to serve you.


“The cost of running government has escalated as a result of many upward reviews of wages of staff across sectors and also as a result of the new minimum wage prescription.

“While I am pleased that we made those investments in our public service and expect that they will reward you the tax payers with improved productivity and even better service delivery, our revenues have unfortunately not grown in such proportions and it therefore suggests that we will have less to spend on capital projects until we find other sources of revenue of generations.”

The governor said it was important in managing this expectation “therefore for all of us to constantly remind ourselves that while your government will not relent in its efforts, we cannot solve all the problems at once.

“What should matter therefore is not whether problems exist, but whether government is responding to these problems and whether those responses are yielding results where they are implemented and not whether everybody has benefited.

“In other words, we appeal to you to be patient with us, and to judge our performance not only by the fact that we may not yet have reached you, but by whether we are responding in some areas and positive change is happening as a result of those responses,” he added.

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