Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has removed the Managing Director of the Lagos State Waste Management Authority, Dr Muyiwa Gbadegesin, and appointed Olajuwon Akinyemi to take over in an acting capacity amid persistent complaints about poor waste collection across the state.
The leadership change is part of a broader restructuring of LAWMA, which will also involve the redeployment of senior officials to other arms of the Lagos State public service.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho, confirmed Akinyemi’s appointment to The PUNCH on Tuesday, disclosing that the governor had instructed him to resume immediately.
Meanwhile, Daily Post, quoting unnamed sources, reported that Sanwo-Olu had also appointed Dr Tijani Olorunwa as Acting Director of Operations, while Kunle Adebiyi would remain as Executive Director of Finance.
According to the report, the governor had directed the transfer of officers on Salary Grade Levels 13 to 17 to the mainstream civil service, local governments and local council development areas.
“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.
However, the redeployment exercise will not affect staff in the authority’s Legal Department to avoid interfering with ongoing court cases and concession agreements.
Similarly, the heads of Landfill Operations, LAWMA Operations and Private Sector Participation Operations have been excluded from the exercise for an initial 90 days to ensure stability and uninterrupted waste collection under the new management.
The management shake-up follows months of complaints over the growing heaps of refuse on roads, residential streets and drainage channels in different parts of Lagos, despite the state government’s earlier declaration of a state of emergency in the waste management sector.
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The PUNCH had exclusively reported that Sanwo-Olu asked Gbadegesin to resign after expressing dissatisfaction with his handling of the waste crisis, particularly the slow evacuation of refuse and his alleged failure to promptly implement the governor’s instructions.
An insider had linked the governor’s displeasure to an inspection of the Olusosun dumpsite in Ojota, where Sanwo-Olu was reportedly unhappy with the level of operations and demanded urgent action.
Following the inspection, the governor met with stakeholders in the waste management sector at the dumpsite, admitting that refuse collection was progressing slowly.
He attributed some of the challenges to the failure of Private Sector Participation operators to fulfil their responsibilities.
Sanwo-Olu also identified fires at dumpsites and delays in waste compaction as factors slowing down refuse evacuation. He subsequently outlined plans to improve the capacity of the Olusosun and Solous 3 dumpsites.
Despite the interventions, residents continued to report waste accumulation in several communities, including Mushin, Ikeja, Iyana Ipaja, Egbeda, Surulere, Ajegunle, Ikorodu, Ojo, Obalende, Apapa and Mile 2.
In one of his recent operational updates, Gbadegesin disclosed that additional trucks had been deployed to some affected locations, while clearance operations had been completed or were ongoing along several collection routes.
He identified Mile 2, Doyin-Orile, Ijesha Road, Itire-Ikate, Bucknor-Ijegun and Obalende as areas where interventions had taken place.
However, he acknowledged that updates were still being awaited on operations in Apapa, Abesan Estate, Idimu-Ejigbo Road and the Isheri-Igando corridor.
Gbadegesin had been reappointed as LAWMA managing director following Sanwo-Olu’s re-election.
With Akinyemi now leading the authority in an acting capacity, the responsibility for resolving Lagos’ waste management challenges has shifted to the new management team. However, the state government has yet to announce specific targets, deadlines or performance indicators for assessing the incoming leadership.