Sanwo-Olu swears-in LG Service Commissioners

The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday swore-in the chair and commissioners of the Local Government Service Commission.

Speaking during the swearing in ceremony at the Lagos House, Ikeja, Sanwo-Olu urged them to work toward revamping the local government service.

The newly sworn in Chairman is Mr Kamal Baiyewu and the Commissioners are Mr Taofeek Adaranijo, Mr Ahmed Seriki, Mr Biodun Orekoya and Mr Akeem Bamgbola.

The governor congratulated them for being found worthy of the appointments based on their track records of service to the state.

According to him, the new appointees have been appointed in line with the policy of his administration to ensure that “round pegs are put in round holes’’.

“As former chairmen of local government councils and local council development areas, you have the requisite knowledge and experience to effectively discharge the responsibilities of your new offices.

“As we all know, the local government is the most important tier of government because it is the closest to the people.

“The policies implemented at the local government level are those with direct impact on the lives of the people.

“It is, therefore, imperative for us to ensure that we pay greater attention to local government administration if we are to achieve our objective of inclusive governance and enhanced service delivery at the grassroots level,´´ he said.

Sanwo-Olu urged them to do all they could to ensure that the electorate felt the impact of governance in local government councils and local council development areas.

He said that a critical factor in the attainment of grassroots development was the quality and commitment of the local government personnel saddled with the responsibility of ensuring smooth administrative processes and effective implementation of policies and programmes.

The governor said that the chairman and members of the commission had an important role of overseeing recruitment, promotion, discipline and career management.

“This is an onerous responsibility, which must be performed with a strong sense of purpose, and intentionality. You must exercise due diligence by ensuring that all your decisions are guided by relevant rules and guidelines.

“You must also strive to be fair and just in all your decisions because this will go a long way in boosting the morale of council workers.

“I am hopeful that you will provide visionary leadership that will eventually engender better councils with the capacity to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the people.

“As you begin work, I look forward to seeing a revamped local government service dedicated to accountability, efficient service delivery, grassroots transformation, and rural socio-economic development,´´ he said.

In his acceptance speech, the chairman of the commission, on behalf of his colleagues, thanked the governor for giving them such opportunity to serve.

Baiyewu pledged their commitment to serve and to deliver a highly professional workforce that could compete with any civil service in the world.

The newly sworn in chairman pledged to follow the path of justice in Lagos State and Nigeria in all that they do.