Kingsley Adeseye Ogunlewe is a Nigerian from a royal family of Igbogbo and politician who was elected Senator on the Alliance for Democracy (AD) platform 1999 for the Lagos East constituency, before he defected to the PDP. He later became the Minister of Works (July 2003 to March 2006). When he was sacked from this position by President

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its presid ...

, it was said to be due to a feud with his former patron, Bode George, the Deputy National Chairman of the PDP.

Background

Ogunlewe is from an affluent dynasty of Igbogbo, a community in the

Ikorodu Ikorodu is a large city in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is located to the north-east of Lagos, along the Lagos Lagoon and shares boundary with Ogun State. With a population of over 1million inhabitant, Ikorodu is currently the 12 largest city in N ...

Local Government Area of

Lagos State Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 states, it is both the most populous and smallest in area. Bounded to the south by the Bight of Benin and to the west by the international border with Benin ...

. His elder brother, Dr. Akin Ogunlewe, was a permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Commerce and Industry, who was relieved of his position soon after Ogunlewe transferred to the PDP. Ogunlewe is an alumnus of the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 19 ...

. During his stay in the premier University he lived in Mellanby Hall and participated actively in students politics. He is a lawyer, and at one time was permanent secretary of Lagos State.

Senator

In July 2002, Senator Wahab Dosunmu and Adeseye Ogunlewe accused

Governor

Bola Ahmed 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 ...

of abusing trust of public funds through contract awards to his friends. He ran for reelection in 2003 on the PDP ticket, but was defeated by

Olorunnimbe Mamora Adeleke Olorunnimbe Mamora (born 16 February 1953) is a Nigerian politician, who is currently the Minister of Science and Technology, he previously served has Minister of State of Health of Nigeria. He was elected Senator for the Lagos East con ...

of the Alliance for Democracy (AD).

Minister of works

In July 2003, Ogunlewe announced that the federal government would invest about US$2.85 billion in rehabilitating and upgrading the nation's highway network, and planned to make all roads in the country accessible by year end. In January 2004, Ogunlewe said the Federal government had approved an extra N900 million for rehabilitation of roads in the South-east. In April 2004, Ogunlewe won the Dr Kwame Nkrumah Africa Leadership Award in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

. In May 2004, Ogunlewe published his mobile phone number and told people to use it if they saw any pot-holes or had a traffic accident. He said he was inundated with calls, but also said of the roads "They are fantastic now." He claimed that 12,600 km of roads had been rehabilitated in the past six months. In June 2004, there were clashes in Lagos state between agents of the Federal Ministry of Works and officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority. The clashes were over control of Federal roads, and were apparently linked to ongoing disputes between Ogunlewe and the state governor

of the Alliance for Democracy. In August 2004, Ogunlewe announced that The

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

and the

African Development Bank The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) or (BAD) is a multilateral development finance institution headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies ...

planned to cooperate with Nigeria to build the Trans-West African Highway from Lagos to

Mauritania Mauritania (; ar, موريتانيا, ', french: Mauritanie; Berber: ''Agawej'' or ''Cengit''; Pulaar: ''Moritani''; Wolof: ''Gànnaar''; Soninke:), officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania ( ar, الجمهورية الإسلامية ...

's capital Nouakchott. In October 2004, Ogunlewe stated that the year 2005 would see faster rapid progress in road repair and construction. In March 2006, after being dismissed from his job as Works Minister, Ogunlewe urged President Olusegun Obasanjo to seek a third term in office.

Later career

In July 2006, a Lagos State governorship candidate,

Funsho Williams Anthony Olufunsho Williams (9 May 1948 – 27 July 2006) was an influential politician from Lagos State and former Commissioner under Colonel Olagunsoye Oyinlola's Military Administration in Lagos. Early life Funsho Williams attended the St. Pau ...

was found murdered in his home. Ogunlewe, who had been a rival for the PDP nomination, was arrested in connection with the murder. He was later released, but in February 2007, he was re-arrested. In November 2009, the Senate ad hoc committee on transport led by Heineken Lokpobiri, submitted a report to the upper house that revealed "alleged serial malpractices" in road contracting over a ten-year period, and recommended that former ministers of works Anthony Anenih, Adeseye Ogunlewe, Obafemi Anibaba,

Cornelius Adebayo Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo is a former Senator of Nigeria, who became a state governor, and later was head of the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Communications. Background Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo was born on February 24, 1941 in Igbaja in Kwa ...

and others be prosecuted for corruption. Senate discussion of the report was delayed. Senator Ogunlewe resigned from his position as the Pro-Chancellor of the

Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta is one of the higher institutions of learning owned and run by the Federal government of Nigeria. History The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, or FUNAAB, was estab ...

in 2016. In 2019, Senator Ogunlewe left the Peoples Democratic Party for the All Progressives Congress

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ogunlewe, Adeseye People from Lagos State Living people Yoruba politicians Members of the Senate (Nigeria) Alliance for Democracy (Nigeria) politicians Peoples Democratic Party (Nigeria) politicians Federal ministers of Nigeria Yoruba royalty University of Ibadan alumni Lagos State politicians Nigerian Permanent Secretaries 20th-century Nigerian politicians 21st-century Nigerian politicians Year of birth missing (living people) People from Ikorodu Citizens of Nigeria through descent