Olujimi Kolawole Agbaje (popularly known as Jimi Agbaje or JK; born 2 March 1957), is a Nigerian
Pharmacist
A pharmacist, also known as a chemist (Commonwealth English) or a druggist (North American and, archaically, Commonwealth English), is a healthcare professional who prepares, controls and distributes medicines and provides advice and instructi ...
, and
Politician
A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...
. He was the 2015
PDP's
Lagos State
Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...
Governorship candidate, but he lost out to the eventual winner
Akinwunmi Ambode
Akinwunmi Ambode (born 14 June 1963) is a Nigerian politician who served as Governor of Lagos State from 2015 to 2019. He was a civil servant for 27 years and a financial consultant before running for public office.
Ambode ran for office of th ...
. He was the
2019 Lagos State gubernatorial election
The 2019 Lagos gubernatorial election was conducted on 9 March to choose the Governor of Lagos State. The election was held concurrently with various state level elections. Incumbent APC Governor Akinwunmi Ambode lost to the APC flag bearer Bab ...
candidate for
PDP in the 2019 general elections.
Early life
He was born on 2 March 1957 in
Lagos State
Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...
to late Chief
Julius Kosebinu, a banker and
Mrs. Margaret Olabisi a teacher.
He is the second child and first male child of five children (two female and two male siblings) including
Segun Agbaje
Segun Agbaje (born 1964) is the Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), a Nigerian financial institution. He is also a Director of PepsiCo and member of the Mastercard Advisory Board, Middle East and Africa.
Education
Segun Agbaje at ...
, CEO of
Guaranty Trust Bank
Guaranty Trust Holding Company PLC also known as GTCO PLC is a multinational financial services group, that offers retail and investment banking, pension management, asset management and payments services, headquartered in Victoria Island, Lagos ...
.
Business career
In 1982, Jimi Agbaje founded his own company,
JAYKAY Pharmaceutical and Chemical Company Limited and was managing director until 2005, when he decided to venture into politics. A consummate professional, he was a member of the
Pharmacists Council of Nigeria The Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) is a Federal Government Agency of Nigeria, established by Decree 91 of 1992 (now Act 91 of 1992)—due to transfer of power from military to civilian in 1999—to regulate and control the practice of pharmac ...
(1999–2006); National Secretary of the
Nigerian Association of General Practice Pharmacists (NAGPP) from 1987 to 1990; National Chairman NAGPP (1990–1993) and Chairman
Pharmaceutical society of Nigeria Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) is a professional body for practicing pharmacists in Nigeria and was established in to instill discipline and maintaining professional ethics among members of the organization. The first president of the asso ...
Lagos State
Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...
(1994–1997). He was a member,
Lagos State Task force on Fake and Adulterated Drugs (1989–1993),
National Drug Formulary and Essential Drugs List (1986–1993) and
Lagos Hospitals Management Board (1994–1997).
Jimi Agbaje also sits on the board of other organizations including
Oakwood Park Ltd,
Atlantic Hall Secondary School Epe,
Lagos
Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
,
Jimi Agbaje Outreach (a project dedicated to helping the less fortunate) and has served as business mentor at
Fate Foundation.
Political life
In a 2013 interview with
The Punch
''The Punch'' is a Nigerian daily newspaper founded On August 8, 1970. Punch Nigeria Limited was registered under the Companies Act of 1968 to engage in the business of publishing newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. It was designed to i ...
Newspaper, Agbaje talked about how he began in politics: "It had to do with the
Moshood Abiola
Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola , also known as M. K. O. Abiola (24 August 1937 – 7 July 1998) was a Nigerian businessman, publisher, and politician. He was the Aare Ona Kankafo XIV of Yorubaland and an aristocrat of the Egba clan.
M.K.O ...
/
Bashir Tofa
Bashir Othman Tofa (20 June 1947 – 3 January 2022) was a Nigerian politician. A Kanuri people, Kanuri Islam, Muslim who hailed from Kano State, Tofa was the National Republican Convention (NRC) candidate in the annulled Nigeria's 12 June 1993 p ...
presidential election", he said. "I saw the annulment as a personal insult and an assault on the Nigerian people. This led to my first entry into what I would call activism, working with other concerned professionals" such as Prof.
Pat Utomi
Patrick Okedinachi Utomi (born 6 February 1956) is a Nigerian professor of political economy and management expert. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants of Nigeria and a former presidential candidate. He is the founder of Cen ...
, Dr Ayo Ighodaro,
Asue Ighodalo, Billy Lawson,
Oby Ezekwesili
Obiageli "Oby" Ezekwesili (born 28 April 1963) is an economic policy expert, an advocate for transparency, accountability, good governance and human capital development, a humanitarian and an activist. She is a former vice president for the Worl ...
, Tola Mobolurin and Hassan Odukale.
Jimi was in one form of resistance group or the other which ultimately led him to join the socio-political organization,
Afenifere Afenifere was formed as a socio-cultural organization for the Yoruba people of Nigeria, with Chief Abraham Adesanya as its leader and Chief Bola Ige as deputy leader. Other founding members were Pa Onasanya, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, Adegbonmire, Oku ...
where he served as national treasurer.
Based on his affiliation wit
Afenifere Jimi Agbaje joined the
Action Congress
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a List of political parties in Nigeria, Nigerian political party formed via the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy (Nigeria), Alliance for Democracy, th ...
(AC) – his first political party. In 2007, Agbaje who had initially aspired to contest for the governor of
Lagos State
Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...
on the platform of the
Action Congress
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a List of political parties in Nigeria, Nigerian political party formed via the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy (Nigeria), Alliance for Democracy, th ...
(AC) left the party to join the
Democratic People's Alliance
The Democratic National Alliance or Democratic People's Alliance ( sr, Демократски народни савез/Demokratski narodni savez or DNS) is a
centre-right political party in Republic of Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The hea ...
(DPA). He was among the 11 aspirants that turned their back to the
Action Congress
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a List of political parties in Nigeria, Nigerian political party formed via the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy (Nigeria), Alliance for Democracy, th ...
(AC) when it was alleged that Governor
Bola Tinubu
Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu (born 29 March 1952) is a Nigerian accountant and politician who served as the Governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and Senator for Lagos West during the brief Third Republic. In June 2022, he was chosen as the A ...
had already anointed someone else to succeed him even before the party primaries. Widely believed to have conducted the best campaign in 2007, Agbaje contested in gubernatorial election on the
Democratic People's Alliance
The Democratic National Alliance or Democratic People's Alliance ( sr, Демократски народни савез/Demokratski narodni savez or DNS) is a
centre-right political party in Republic of Srpska and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The hea ...
(DPA) platform, but eventually, alongside other major contenders –
Musiliu Obanikoro
Musiliu Babatunde Obanikoro (popularly known as Koro) is a Nigerian politician. He served as Senator for Lagos State from 2003–2007, and was later appointed High Commissioner to Ghana. He served as the Minister of State for Defence during 20 ...
of PDP,
Femi Pedro
Olufemi "Femi" Olusegun Pedro (born 29 January 1955) is a Nigerian politician who served as deputy governor of Lagos State from 2003 to 2007. Before his election alongside Bola Tinubu, he was a co-owner and the chief executive officer of Firs ...
of
Labour Party (Nigeria)
The Labour Party (LP) is a social democratic political party in Nigeria. The party was created in 2002 and was previously known as the Party for Social Democracy (PSD) before changing to its current name the following year. Built on the ideology ...
– lost to
Babatunde Raji Fashola
Babatunde Raji Fashola ( yo, Bàbátúndé Rájí Fáṣọlá; born 28 June 1963) is a Nigerian lawyer and politician currently serving as the Federal Minister of Works and Housing of Nigeria. He served two terms as Governor of Lagos State f ...
of the
Action Congress
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), formerly known as Action Congress (AC), was a List of political parties in Nigeria, Nigerian political party formed via the merger of a faction of Alliance for Democracy (Nigeria), Alliance for Democracy, th ...
(AC).
He left DPA in 2011 and went on to join the ruling party, the
People's Democratic Party, PDP following the de-registration of DPA by the
Independent National Electoral Commission
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established in 1998 and is the electoral body which oversees elections in Nigeria.
History
Regulation and administration of elections
The administration of democratic elections in Nige ...
(INEC). On 29 October 2014, he officially indicated his interest in giving the
Lagos State
Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...
gubernatorial elections another shot by picking up the PDP nomination form. On 8 December 2014, it was reported that he emerged as the candidate of the
People's Democratic Party, PDP for the 2015
Lagos State
Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...
gubernatorial election, having defeated
Musiliu Obanikoro
Musiliu Babatunde Obanikoro (popularly known as Koro) is a Nigerian politician. He served as Senator for Lagos State from 2003–2007, and was later appointed High Commissioner to Ghana. He served as the Minister of State for Defence during 20 ...
in the primary.
Musiliu Obanikoro
Musiliu Babatunde Obanikoro (popularly known as Koro) is a Nigerian politician. He served as Senator for Lagos State from 2003–2007, and was later appointed High Commissioner to Ghana. He served as the Minister of State for Defence during 20 ...
is the former Minister of
State for Defence who is also a member of the opposition party,
People's Democratic Party, PDP.
In October 2018, Jimi Agbaje secured the PDP's ticket to run for the office of the governor of Lagos state. He defeated Adedeji Doherty to secure the ticket. Jimi Agbaje lost to
Babajide Sanwo-Olu
Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu (born 25 June 1968) is a Nigerian politician and the current Governor of Lagos State. He became governor under the platform of the All Progressives Congress after contesting and unexpectedly winning the gubernatorial p ...
of the All Progressives Congress, in the Lagos state gubernatorial election on 9 March 2019.
Official duties
He has held various professional positions. Among others are:
*National Secretary Nigerian Association of General Practice (1987–1990)
*National Chairman of Nigerian Association of General Practice Pharmacists (1990–1993)
*Chairman of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (1994–1997)
*Chairman of the 1994 National Conference Planning committee of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria.
Awards and fellowships
*Merit Award Winner (MAW), Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (Lagos State chapter)
*Fellow, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (FPSN)
*Fellow, West African Post Graduate College of Pharmacists (FPCPharm)
Personal life
He is married to Abiola Agbaje (née Bankole), a lawyer. The couple met as students at the University of Ife, now
Obafemi Awolowo University
Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal government-owned university that is located in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife ...
and dated for eight years before getting married. They have three children; two boys and girl.
See also
*
Lagos State
Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West (Nigeria), southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, states, it is both the List of Nigerian states by population, most populous and List of Nigerian state ...
*Lagos politicians
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agbaje, Jimi
Living people
Yoruba politicians
1957 births
Obafemi Awolowo University alumni
Nigerian pharmacists
St Gregory's College, Lagos alumni
Politicians from Lagos
Yoruba businesspeople
Businesspeople in the pharmaceutical industry
Businesspeople from Lagos
20th-century Nigerian businesspeople
21st-century Nigerian businesspeople