Sanwo-Olu replaces LAWMA chief amid Lagos waste crisis

File photo: Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Photo: LASG

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has replaced the erstwhile Managing Director of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, with Olajuwon Akinyemi in an acting capacity following months of widespread complaints over mounting refuse across the state and the government’s struggle to restore effective waste collection.

The change is part of a wider overhaul of the authority that will also see the redeployment of senior officers to other parts of the Lagos State public service, in what an insider described as a comprehensive reorganisation of its leadership and operations.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, confirmed Akinyemi’s appointment to The PUNCH when contacted by telephone on Tuesday, saying the governor had directed him to assume office immediately.

Daily Post, citing anonymous sources, reported that Sanwo-Olu had also appointed Dr Tijani Olorunwa as Acting Director of Operations, while Kunle Adebiyi would retain his position as Executive Director, Finance.

The source said the governor had ordered the redeployment of officers on Salary Grade Levels 13 to 17 to the mainstream civil service, local governments and local council development areas, according to the report.

“To improve service delivery and support sustainable organisational growth, Governor Sanwo-Olu has ordered the total reorganisation, mass transfer and overhauling of LAWMA leadership,” the source said.

The exercise, however, excludes personnel in the authority’s Legal Department to prevent disruption to ongoing court proceedings and concession agreements.

The heads of Landfill Operations, LAWMA Operations and Private Sector Participation Operations have also been exempted from the redeployment for an initial 90 days to allow the new management to stabilise the agency and maintain continuity in waste collection.

The leadership change comes against the backdrop of a waste management crisis that has left refuse accumulating along roads, residential streets and drainage channels in several parts of Lagos, despite the governor’s earlier declaration of a state of emergency in the sector.

PUNCH Online had exclusively reported that Sanwo-Olu asked Gbadegesin to resign after becoming dissatisfied with his handling of the crisis, particularly the slow pace of waste evacuation and what an insider described as his failure to act promptly on the governor’s directives.

The source had told PUNCH that the governor’s displeasure followed an inspection of the Olusosun dumpsite in Ojota, where he was reportedly dissatisfied with the state of operations and ordered immediate intervention.

The governor had subsequently met with stakeholders in the waste management sector at the dumpsite, acknowledging the slow pace of refuse collection and attributing part of the problem to the failure of Private Sector Participation operators to meet their obligations.

He also cited fire incidents at dumpsites and delays in waste compaction as factors affecting evacuation, while outlining measures to increase the capacity of the Olusosun and Solous 3 dumpsites.

However, refuse accumulation continued to feature in complaints from residents in areas including Mushin, Ikeja, Iyana Ipaja, Egbeda, Surulere, Ajegunle, Ikorodu, Ojo, Obalende, Apapa and Mile 2.

In a recent update on the agency’s operations, Gbadegesin said additional trucks had been deployed to some affected areas, and that clearance had been completed or was ongoing on several collection routes.

He listed Mile 2, Doyin-Orile, Ijesha Road, Itire-Ikate, Bucknor-Ijegun and Obalende among locations where interventions had been carried out, while acknowledging that field updates were still outstanding for Apapa, Abesan Estate, Idimu-Ejigbo Road and the Isheri-Igando corridor.

Gbadegesin was reappointed as LAWMA managing director after Sanwo-Olu’s re-election.

The latest restructuring places the responsibility for addressing the crisis on Akinyemi and the incoming management, although the government has yet to publicly outline the specific targets, timelines or performance measures against which the new leadership will be assessed.