Born on June 28, 1963 in Lagos, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) is a truly made in Nigeria product.
He obtained his First School Leaving Certificate [FSLC] from the Sunny Fields Primary School, Adelabu Surulere, Lagos, after which he proceeded to Birch Freeman High School, Surulere, Lagos and later Igbobi College, Yaba from where he acquired the West African School Certificate [WASC].
He, thereafter, went to the University of Benin, Benin City and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws [LLB Hons] degree in 1987.
He was called to the Nigeria Bar in November 1988 after undertaking the statutory training for Barristers and Solicitors.
His legal career of over one and a half decades, commenced in the law Firm of Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe and Belgore, where he cut his legal teeth as a litigator.
He was appointed Chief of Staff by the former Governor of Lagos State [Governor Emeritus], Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who he later succeeded in office and served from August 16, 2002 to November 6, 2006.
In the year 2007, Babatunde Raji Fashola was elected the Governor of Lagos State.
He was again re-elected for a second tenure in the 2011 elections under the platform of the All Progressive Congress(APC).
Fashola is a cultured person who is not carried away by power. He was among the three governors in Nigeria during his time who carried the title of ‘Mr’.
He did not use the signature siren favoured by politicians and the ‘powerful people’ because he is averse to noise but also because he considers it in bad taste to live in a government house, drive government vehicles and terrorise the same people that pay for the luxury he enjoys.
A crack, however, appeared in the wall of relationship between Fashola and Tinubu when both came up with different aspirants for Lagos State governorship seat in 2015.
Barely three months after exiting government, Fashola came under severe attacks from some groups, notably BudgIT, Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders (CACOL) and the Socio-Economic Rights Accountability Project (SERAP).
He was accused of wrongdoing while in office. It was alleged that he spent N78 million on a website upgrade contracted to a private company, a sum seen as outrageous.
He denied corruptly enriching himself in the controversial website deal, saying as governor, he never signed cheques.
