He made the declaration on Friday when he graced the cabinet retreat organised for members of the Lagos State Executive Council and Permanent Secretaries.

Also at the occasion was former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola.

Tinubu, who served from 1999 to 2007, urged Sanwo-Olu and his team to make welfare of the people the cornerstone of the administration’s social development programmes.

This is as he also warned that administering the affairs of a society endowed in ethnic diversity like Lagos required more than talent.

His words:  “Many books on leadership and administration have been written by great thinkers which focused on talent of individuals. But, is leadership about talent alone? I say no. Talent can only give you the opportunity to shine and get recognition among your peers. But it cannot pave the way for success. Talent without character is an effort to nowhere.”

Tinubu charged the cabinet members on teamwork, stressing that the success of the administration in its areas of priority was not negotiable.

He said, although Lagos still confronted some challenges in key sectors, he said the challenges should be converted to opportunity to drive development of the state.

The former governor of Lagos State observed that successive administrations in Lagos had been implementing a development masterplan initiated by his administration, but he said the blueprint was not inflexible.

He urged Sanwo-Olu and his team to tinker with the masterplan in driving more development in the state.

Tinubu advised the team to beam its special focus on three key areas: environment, education and health.

He believed the success of the administration would be dependent on the far-reaching reforms that would turn around the listed areas.

He said leadership required courage and boldness to dare, but urged them to be prudent in the discharge of their duties.

After his speech, Tinubu recommended a leadership book titled: Marginal gains and secret of good performance, to the cabinet members to guide in the administration of the state.

Fashola, who spoke on Personal Perspective on Leadership, saluted the courage of the Commissioners and Special Advisers to accept the roles.

He however said the appointees had signed up for “tough task’’, noting that their actions must prove their appointments were well-deserved.

Fashola said public office was created to solve problems facing the people and not to show off.

He said the Sanwo-Olu administration must design a public communication strategy that would make citizens defend the government before becoming agitated.

The minister also advised the cabinet members on teamwork, which he said would inspire trust, dependability, respect and civility.

He also engaged the Executive Council members on how to smoothen the state government’s relationship with the Federal Government.

The Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, who made a vote of thanks on behalf of the Executive Council, described Tinubu as a blessing to Africa, noting that the APC national leader’s leadership impacts transcended the continent.

Governor Sanwo-Olu who spoke earlier noted that the new cabinet members had a rare opportunity of receiving hands on training from two most experienced and highly qualified administrators in former Governors Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola.

He, however charged the Executive Council members to utilize all that had been learned for the betterment of the average citizen of Lagos.

Other speakers at the Day 3 session included the Director General of the Budget Office, Mr. Ben Akabueze, who took the participants through on the structure of the State’s budget.

The appearance of the two former governors of Lagos was aimed at boosting the morale of the cabinet members and to equally share experiences based on practical knowledge in the art of governance.

The retreat being held at the instance of the Lagos State Government is to enable cabinet members and Permanent Secretaries key into the policy thrust of the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration.

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In a request made under its right to information – Freedom of Information – SERAP specifically demanded that as a matter of urgency, the minister should expose contractors who had allegedly collected money for electricity projects but failed to execute them from 1999 to 2018.

The request, SERAP said, followed the claim by Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, presidential candidate, and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

In a Channels Television interview, Atiku said “Contractors were given some contracts for power projects and were paid hundred per cent upfront. The money went down the drain. Up till now, we are not holding the contractors responsible. People have collected money upfront one hundred percent and have disappeared; and have not even done any work.”

Exposing the contractors, the group said, would among other things, make it possible to hold those allegedly involved in the corruption responsible.

The request which was made on January 4, 2019 and signed by its senior legal adviser, Bamisope Adeyanju, reads in part:   “It is important to show that your office and indeed this administration would not shield or allow ingrained wrongdoing by contractors and companies in the power sector to go unpunished. Unless the names of the contractors and companies are disclosed and widely published, alleged corrupt contractors and companies executing electricity projects will not be deterred and the victims of corruption that they committed will continue to be denied justice and effective remedies.

“SERAP urges you to publish the names of all contractors and companies that have been engaged in the power sector since the return of democracy in 1999 to date, details of specific projects and the amounts that have been paid to the contractors and companies, details on the level of implementation of electricity projects and their specific locations across the country.

“SERAP is concerned that to date no contractors or companies who allegedly collected money for electricity projects not executed or poorly executed have been investigated for corruption let alone prosecuted and fined. Senior public officials who apparently served as intermediaries for these contractors and companies continue to escape justice.

“We are concerned that allegations of corruption involving many contractors and companies in the power sector have continued to impair, obstruct and undermine the ability of successive governments to provide Nigerians with access to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply.

“Contractors and companies that allegedly disappeared with public funds meant for electricity projects may also be liable for aiding and abetting the commission of acts of grand corruption.

“SERAP also urges you to refer contractors and companies that allegedly collected hundred per cent payment upfront to appropriate anti-corruption agencies for further investigation, and where there is relevant admissible evidence, for them to face prosecution.

“Doing this will show your willingness to end a pattern of corruption in the power sector and to improve access of Nigerians to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply. It will also allow citizens to track the level of execution of electricity projects by contractors and companies and reduce impunity for corrupt acts in the sector.

“Failure to publish the names of alleged corrupt contractors and companies in the power sector will undermine the government’s oft-expressed commitment to holistically fight grand corruption and improve access of Nigerians to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply.

“Similarly, failure to take punitive and dissuasive measures would allow corrupt contractors and companies to continue to undermine the rule of law and socio-economic development of the country, restricting access of disadvantaged and marginalized communities to regular and uninterrupted electricity supply.

“SERAP notes that the UN Convention against Corruption to which Nigeria is a state party contains requirements of integrity and honesty in economic, financial or commercial activities – in the public and private sectors. It also imposes obligations on the government to ensure that sanctions imposed for corruption on natural and legal persons are effective, proportionate and dissuasive.

“We urge you to establish online national database for all contractors and companies, shareholders and others that might have any ownership interests in companies responsible for executing power projects in the country. We also urge you to disclose if there any on-going investigation or prosecution of allegedly corrupt contractors and companies in the electricity sector.

“By Section 1 (1) of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2011, SERAP is entitled as of right to request for or gain access to information, including information on alleged corrupt contractors and companies that have collected money for electricity projects and disappeared with public funds rather than executing the projects.

“By Section 4 (a) of the FOI Act when a person makes a request for information from a public official, institution or agency, the public official, institution or urgency to whom the application is directed is under a binding legal obligation to provide the applicant with the information requested for, except as otherwise provided by the Act, within 7 days after the application is received.

“The information being requested does not come within the purview of the types of information exempted from disclosure by the provisions of the FOI Act. The information requested for, apart from not being exempted from disclosure under the FOI Act, bothers on an issue of national interest, public concern, interest of human rights, social justice, good governance, transparency and accountability.

“According to our information, former Nigeria’s Vice President and Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar blew the whistle on Channels TV when he said, “We collected money from local, state and federal governments and others. Contractors were given some contracts and were paid hundred percent upfront. Up till now, we are not holding the contractors responsible. People have collected money upfront one hundred percent and have disappeared; and have not even done any work.”

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