Sanwo-Olu Orders LAWMA Chief to Step Down

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has reportedly directed the head of the state’s waste management agency to step down, an agency source said Monday, following months of complaints about uncollected refuse across the city.

The source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Punch that the governor asked Muyiwa Gbadegesin, managing director of the Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA), to resign over the weekend after growing frustrated with the slow pace of waste evacuation.

Gbadegesin is said to be appealing the decision and has enlisted prominent Lagosians to intercede on his behalf.

The move comes after Sanwo-Olu visited the Olusosun dumpsite in Ojota about a month ago and expressed dissatisfaction with conditions there, according to the source.

The governor, who has declared a state of emergency on waste management, instructed that immediate action be taken, but the source said he was upset that the situation had not improved.

“The governor was at the Olusosun Dumpsite in Ojota a month ago and was dissatisfied with the state of things. He gave instructions that immediate action be taken on the matter, as he has declared a state of emergency on waste management,” the source told Punch.

“The governor was upset when he observed that the situation had not improved despite his clear directive. So, over the weekend, he asked him to resign, although he is begging and has reached out to some prominent Lagosians to beg on his behalf.”