Akinwunmi Ambode is a name that Lagosians can never forget in a jiffy. He is one man that reminds a lot of people of drama and hard work at the same time when it comes to the past Lagos governors. Ambode's story is that of a man who rose to the top and left it all in a mysterious disappearing act from the Government scene. In this article, we dive into the life of the 14th executive Governor of Lagos State. How was he able to become the Governor of the busiest State in Nigeria? We will also find out if he is among the richest politicians in Nigeria and where he has disappeared to. Sit back, relax and read some interesting facts about Akinwunmi Ambode biography, net worth, cars and political career.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode giving a speech at an event in Lagos
1. Who is Akinwunmi Ambode?
Akunwunmi Ambode was born on the 14th of June in Epe General Hospital. He was born into the family of Christianah Oluleye Ambode and Festus Akinwale making him one of the ten children of the Ambode Family.
Akinwunmi Ambode had a regular childhood growing up. He attended St. Jude's Primary School in Ebute Metta, Lagos between 1969 - 1974 and passed his National Common Entrance Examinations. Ambode moved on to the Federal Government College, Warri between 1981 - 1984; then he graduated and attended the University of Lagos where he studied Accounting. He finally graduated at the age of 21 which is the normal age even today. Akinwunmi Ambode holds a master's degree in Financial Accounting also from the University of Lagos, he is also a qualified Chartered Accountant.
Ambode's family is a very simple one, he is married to Bolanle Patience Odukomaiya and they both have twins, a boy and a girl which they brought up in the Christian way.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and his lovely Wife, patience
2. How Ambode became Governor in Lagos State?
Just before he had a political run, Akinwunmi Ambode was a big gun in the Civil Service sector of Lagos State. From 1988 till 1991, Ambode was the Assistant Treasurer of Badagry Local Government in Lagos State. Then he held the position of Council Treasurer in Shomolu Local Government. In later years, he served as an auditor.
From 2006 - 2013, Ambode was the accountant general for Lagos State, in charge of all the financial activities of the state and he was the overall boss for over 1400 accountants in the State's Civil Service force.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode rocking in a nightclub in Lagos State
Ambode's impact in the accounting sphere of Lagos Government was noticeable as he raised the performance of financial budgeting to about 85%. This put eyes on his accountability as a person. Back in 2012, Ambode retired from Civil Service and founded Brandsmiths Consulting Limited to provide Public Finance and Management Consulting Services to the government at all levels. In 2013, he founded the non-profit La Roche Leadership Foundation. Its goal is to install Nigerian and Lagos State flags in all government-owned schools in Lagos State. A simple but important goal.
Ambode ran for the office of the Governor of Lagos State in April 2015 as a member of the All Progressives Congress, the state's ruling party under the full guidance of Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu aka "Jagaban of Lagos". This relationship with Jagaban made the people of Lagos love him more. Ambode won the election, just defeating the second-place candidate Jimi Agbaje of the People Democratic Party by 150,000 votes. He began his tenure as the governor of Lagos on 29 May 2015, succeeding former governor Babatunde Fashola.
Akinwunmi Ambode's tenure was a very hardworking one but with a lot of complaints from his subordinates. Ambode's background as an accountant made him very strict with his seat as the State's Governor. Everyone that got paid by the State Government experienced a sudden reduction in profit margin for whatever work they did and everything seemed to be going private. A perfect example of this is how Ambode privatized LAWMA to become a Visionscape. His subjects didn't like this move and eventually, they decided to vote him out in 2019. Ambode lost in the gubernatorial primary election to Babajide Sanwo-Olu, denying him an opportunity to run for a second term. He eventually supported the Sanwo-Olu campaign that brought about a smooth transition in the state and since then, he has disappeared from the public eye.
He was a very good and hard-working Governor that couldn't secure a second term because the people he worked with while in Government didn't like him.
3. Akinwunmi Ambode Net Worth
Akunwunmi is currently estimated to be worth about ₦150billion in form of net worth. Accumulating all this money from his long span career as a Financial Accountant coupled with the fact that he became Governor.
4. Akinwunmi House and Cars
Akinwunmi Ambode has about 17 houses scattered all over Nigeria with most of them in the Lagos Island area. He also possesses some Real Estate projects in the Epe area of Lagos where he comes from.
A crowd in front of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode's house
Akinwunmi Ambode has a powerful fleet of luxury cars to his name. Some of these cars included:
- Range Rover Autobiography
- Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG
- bulletproof BMW 750LI
Governor Ambode stepping out of his Range Rover
Media reports claim that the above photo captured a time when Governor Ambode enforced the law on a military man that has decided to disobey the law.
5. Ambode Latest News
There have been rumours of Akinwunmi Ambode having an affair with two popular Nigerian Social media sensations and celebrities; Toke Makinwa & Mercy Aigbe.
Ambode got awarded the Fulbright Program Scholarship for the Hubert Humphries Fellowship Programme in Boston, Massachusetts. He also attended the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania for Advanced Management Programme. In 2019, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission ( EFCC) secured a court mandate to freeze three accounts traced to the former governor of Lagos state.
6. Conclusion
No one can tell if Ambode would still come back to contest for the Lagos State governorship post. But in any case, we wish him good luck with his new exploits in life. And that will be all for now about Akinwunmi Ambode biography, net worth, cars and political career.
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