EXCLUSIVE: The Successor Of Governor Sanwo-Olu In 2027 Revealed.

Governor Sanwo-Olu.

The race for who becomes the governor of Lagos after the 8yrs of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had begun, albeit secretly, considering that a number of individuals are interested in the top job, but only one man would get it after all.

According to what we are hearing, names like the son of the president, Seyi Tinubu; the current deputy governor, Femi Hamzat, the speaker of the House of Assembly, Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa, Femi Gbajabiamila, even the name of the former and one-term governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, have all been bandied about as potential governors of Lagos State after Sanwo-Olu in 2027 but with what is available to “News PlatformNG” as an exclusive, none of these with those not mentioned here will get the ticket to run.

President Tinubu with Hakeem Muri-Okunola.

According to information available to us at “News PlatformNG”, the major criterion for who becomes the next governor of Lagos is, first and foremost, religion.

Regardless of how we look at it here, religion plays a major role in our politics and in who becomes who and what in our political environment; therefore, the name Hakeem Muri-Okunola comes with strong backing for Governor of Lagos State after Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as both Ambode and Sanwo-Olu are Christians. The Muslim faithful in Lagos are demanding to have a stake on the decision-making table, which the president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had to succumb to.

Hakeem Muri-Okunola was born on 7^th of January 1972, lawyer, public administrator, technocrat and currently the Principal Secretary to the President.

He served as Head of Service to Lagos State Government, and his father is the late, respected Justice Muritala Okunola.

After his primary education, he attended the Nigeria Navy Secondary School, Lagos in 1982. By 1989, he had become an undergraduate of Lagos State University (LASU), graduating in 1995 with a bachelor's degree in Law, following which he completed the mandatory one year of study at the Nigerian Law School.

Between 1996-1999, he served as an Associate Solicitor with Adepetun, Caxton-Martins and Agbor before joining as company secretary/legal adviser at Ibile Holdings Limited, the investment company of Lagos State Government, a position he held from 2000 to 2003.

Muri-Okunola joined the Lagos state civil service in 2001.

Between 2003 2005, he was personal assistant to the then governor of Lagos, Bola Tinubu as executive secretary of the Land Use and Allocation Committee. Afterwards, he was promoted to the position of Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State Public Service in 2011. He was deployed to the Lands Bureau in the Governor's Office where he supervised the state's Lands Administration machinery.

In this capacity, he played significant roles in improving the state's ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index. These include the Electronic Certificate of Occupancy (E-C of O), the Electronic Data Management System (EDMS) and the 30-day processing of consent applications.

In 2015, he was named Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Youth and Social Development, working on the amended version of the Child's Rights Law and the Child Protection Policy among other things.  During this period, he was also on the board of the Lagos State Office for Disability Affairs (LASODA). 

Muri-Okunola was appointed Head of Service on the 28th of December 2018, being the most senior ranking member of the Body of Permanent Secretaries in Lagos State.

He is married with children. A member of the Ikoyi Club 1938, Lagos Motor Boat Club, Lagos Polo Club and F's Club, his hobbies include soccer, athletics, polo, boating, squash, basketball, and water sports.

As the Personal Secretary to the president, he is undergoing proper tutelage in preparation for his eventual nomination and choice as governorship candidate for the APC in Lagos, as confirmed by a few stalwarts of the party who spoke to "News PlatformNG" on the condition of anonymity. he is sure of becoming governor in 2027 as long as president Tinubu is behind him.

Behold the next Governor of Lagos State come May 29^th, 2027, Hakeem Muri-Okunola.