Riding on the ethnic politics that enveloped Lagos in the run-up to the 2023 election, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has decided to run a second term that excludes residents of Igbo extraction.
Despite constituting the second-largest ethnic group in the state, Mr Sanwo-Olu named his cabinet in September without nominating a single Igbo politician or technocrat, thereby setting back the wee progress the state had recorded towards diversity and inclusion under previous administrations.
Mr Sanwo-Olu, on September 13, swore in 23 commissioners after their confirmation by the State House of Assembly. The governor also named 14 special advisers to his cabinet, none of whom was Igbo.
This was the first time a Lagos governor would have a cabinet with no Igbo man included since at least the administration of Bola Tinubu (1999-2007). During his first time, from May 2019 to May 2023, Mr Sanwo-Olu had Joe Igbokwe, originally from Nnewi in Anambra, as a…