The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said he no longer wants to be addressed as ‘Your Excellency’ in his
engagements with citizens and other official duties.
Mr Sanwo-Olu, in a statement Wednesday, said the decision came following a review of certain features of citizen-government
relations which impede the genuine expression of the democratic spirit of the society and the meaningful exercise of the
sovereignty of the people.
He said he now wants to be addressed simply as Mr Governor, to constantly remind him that he had been chosen out of so many
fellow compatriots to lead the state.
Fellow Lagosians, I have come to the conclusion that for us to change the narrative of governance, we have to strike down
this seeming symbol of executive arrogance that commands popular obeisance and undermines the democratic role of citizens
as the masters of those they have elected and appointed to serve,’’ Mr Sanwo-Olu said.
‘’It is a conviction that I believe will send the right signals to all politicians and civil servants that service to the
people has brought us here. It is the duty we are obliged to do. It is the responsibility that we bear wherever we find
ourselves; whenever we are called to serve.’’
“A salutation that sanitises the paraphernalia of office and reminds us all of our imperfections and mortality. To give
official effect to this announcement, I shall issue tomorrow an executive order that will formally ensure full compliance
with this new policy.’’
In his statement, the governor said his office has been celebrated as the paragon of excellence, a temple of perfection
and a throne of purity.
“This demi-god mystique spreads over the entire machinery of the executive arm of the government, symbolising an
authoritarian disposition on the governed,’’ he said.