Governor Akinwunmi Ambode

Akinwunmi Ambode (born June 14, 1963) , a Nigerian businessman and activist is the Governor of Lagos State, Nigeria. He was formerly the Accountant-General of Lagos State, , as well as other positions in the state's government.

In January 2005, Ambode was redeployed to mainstream public service as the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Finance. By February 2006, Ambode was given the added responsibility of accountant general for Lagos State, in charge of all the financial activities of the state and directly responsible for over 1400 accountants in the state service. Under his watch, the State Treasury Office (STO) revolutionized the way Lagos State finances were raised, budgeted, managed and planned. In his six years as the Lagos State accountant general, the state's financial performance improved visibly with the budget performing at a remarkable average of 85% annually. Ambode believes that "public financial management is about ensuring that public money is well spent and it is made to stretch as far as possible. It provides leaders and public-sector managers with information to make decisions and to know if they are using resources effectively."

After 27 years in the civil service, Ambode voluntarily retired in August 2012. He founded Brandsmiths Consulting Limited to provide Public Finance and Management Consulting services to government at all levels, its parastatals and agencies.

Ambode stood for election to the state governor's office in 2015 as a member of the All Progressives Congress, the state's ruling party. He won the election, defeating the second-place candidate by more than 150,000 votes. He began his tenure as the governor of Lagos on 29th May 2015.