Babajide Obanikoro, the ebullient son of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, a politician with numerous insignias including being former Council Chairman, former federal minister, erstwhile People’s Democratic Party, PDP chieftain and now All Progressives Congress, APC, stalwart in Lagos state is not new to politics, like his father.
The junior Obanikoro once contested for the Eti-Osa local government council chairmanship position but lost under the PDP platform. He ported to APC where he contested and won election into the House of Representatives from the Eti -Osa federal constituency. Unfortunately for him, he lost his re-election bid.
Ever since, he has been lurking around the corridors of power in Lagos, where his closeness to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is quite noticeable to the political public.
However, Governor Sanwo-Olu, in his wisdom, decided to bring Babajide into government. The junior Obanikoro was formally appointed as Senior Special Assistant (SSA) Parastatals Monitoring Office (PMO), recently.
Theliberationnews gathered from sources in the state that his consolatory appointment seems to have given the junior Obanikoro a false sense of importance, upon resumption at the PMO.
Days upon his resumption, insiders informed Theliberationnews that he started making attempts to subordinate the permanent secretary of the PMO, Mrs. Adetutu Ososanya, who incidentally is a senior to Babajide in the pecking order and other management staffers just because of being a mere SSA to the governor.
Our source revealed that he started requesting that all official files must first berth at his table, telling everybody around, including the permanent secretary and other management staffers that he’s above everyone and that all of them should forthwith be reporting to him.
Due to his dad’s political influence in the state and the junior Obanikoro’s purported closeness to the governor, the civil servants knew that his case should be handled with tact and professional alacrity.
His demands for files were strategically ignored, and with this, Babajide went straight to Barrister Bode Agoro, a knowledgeably calm Head of Service, HoS, in the state, to report PMO’s permanent secretary and other management staff.
The HoS, a brilliant lawyer and well nuanced civil servant, calmly reflected on how best to resolve the matter. When everyone was thinking that Agoro might have been boxed into a corner, the HoS deployed his vast civil service skills by courageously setting the records straight, once, and for all.
His clincher, as reliably gathered by Theliberationnews, was the Circular No.006 dated February 11,2025 he issued directing that all Special Advisers(non-cabinet rank), Executive Assistants, Senior Special Assistants and Special Assistants should henceforth take permission from their Chief Accounting Officers of their ministries being the Permanent Secretaries before embarking on any trips abroad.
This circular clearly shows Babajide Obanikoro, his placement on the pecking order of political appointees in the state. His SSA position is second to the last on the hierarchy of non-cabinet political appointees in the state.
Obviously, if holders of the two positions above him do not claim to be above permanent secretaries in their ministries, it is nothing but an institutional breach for him to claim to be above the accounting officers of individual ministries.
Sources reveal that all have been silent since the receipt of the circular, even though many believe that the last may not have been heard about the matter.
Theliberationnews investigation reveals that Agoro’s actions have been hailed to be a testament of his administrative prowess and his commitment to upholding the established protocols and hierarchies in the Lagos State civil service.
By checking Obanikoro’s misplaced bid to unsettle the PMO, Agoro has sent a clear signal to any unruly or power drunken political appointees that the rule of law and established procedures will be upheld in the state’s civil service.
With Agoro’s leadership and guidance, sources reveal to Theliberationnews that the PMO is well-positioned to deliver on its mandate of supporting the state’s development agenda by effectively monitoring, evaluating and documenting performances of agencies and parastatals in the state.
