Lagos State Government is the government 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 ...

, concerned with the administration of the state ministries. The government consists of the executive,

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...

and

Judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...

. The government is headed by the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

who is the policy-maker and often assisted by the commissioners and other civil servants of the state.

Office of the Governor

The Office of the Governor was created along with the creation of the state in 1967. It is currently headed by

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 ...

, who is the fifteenth Governor of the State. This office is responsible for the effective coordination of all government activities for the good of the people of the State. The state vision is "Making Lagos Africa's Model Mega City And Global Economic and Financial Hub", and the state policy thrust is "Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Economic Growth through Infrastructure Renewal and Development."

Judiciary

The Judiciary is one of the three co-equal arms of the Lagos State Government. It is concerned with the interpretation of the laws of Lagos State government. The judiciary is headed by the

Chief Judge of Lagos State The Chief Judge of Lagos State is the head of the Lagos State Judiciary, the judicial branch of the Lagos State Government and the chief judge of the High Court of Lagos State. From 1967 to 1973, the title was called Chief Justice of the Suprem ...

, appointed by the

Lagos State Governor The governor of Lagos State is the head of government of Lagos State in Nigeria. The governor leads the executive branch of the Lagos State Government. This position places its holder in leadership of the state with command authority over the ...

with the approval of the

Lagos State House of Assembly The Lagos State House of Assembly is the state legislature of Lagos State. It is situated along Governor's Avenue in the state capital, Ikeja. The House of Assembly is currently under the All Progressives Congress political party which is the cu ...

. Distinguished members of the Judiciary include the Attorney-General and Lagos State Commissioner for Justice as well as the Chief Registrar. The Chief Registrar serves as the head of administration and accountant to the judiciary.

History of the judiciary

The Lagos State Judiciary was the first judiciary to be established in Nigeria, then known as the Colony Province Judiciary. The Magistrate Court was established first. The establishment of the Magistrate Court gave birth to the High Court, the then Lagos State Supreme Court. When the

Supreme Court of Nigeria The Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) is the highest court in Nigeria, and is located in the Central District, Abuja, in what is known as the Three Arms Zone, so called due to the proximity of the offices of the Presidential Complex, the National Ass ...

was founded, the Lagos Supreme Court metamorphosed into the High Court of the Federal Territory Lagos with the concurrent appointment of John Taylor as Chief Judge. On May 27, 1967, the same year Lagos State was formed, the High Court and the Magistrate Court of the Federal Territory were merged to form the Lagos State Judiciary under the leadership of John Taylor, the pioneer Chief Judge of Lagos State. Taylor's tenure elapsed on November 7, 1973. He was succeeded by Justice Joseph Adefarasin, appointed on November 1, 1974. He served in that capacity for 9 years until April 24, 1985, when his tenure ended. He was succeeded by Justice Candide Adeyemi Johnson, appointed on April 25, 1985, a day after Justice Joseph left the office. He spent 4 years in office and Justice Ligali Ayorinde succeeded him on July 10, 1989. He served in that capacity for 6 years i.e. between July 1989 to April 1995. In August 2014,

Oluwafunmilayo Olajumoke Atilade Oluwafunmilayo Olajumoke Atilade (born 24 September 1952) is a Nigerian Jurist and former Chief Judge of Lagos State. She was formerly a judge at the High Court of Lagos State. Background Oluwafunmilayo Olajumoke Williams was born on 24 Septemb ...

was appointed as

Chief Judge A chief judge (also known as presiding judge, president judge or principal judge) is the highest-ranking or most senior member of a lower court or circuit court with more than one judge. According to the Federal judiciary of the United States, th ...

, sworn in by

Ade Ipaye Adeola Rahman Ipaye (born 8 June 1963) is a Nigerian lawyer who is currently the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari. He was also Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, among oth ...

, Attorney General of Lagos State.

Courts

The Lagos State courts consist of three levels of courts. The High Court is an appellate court that operates under discretionary review, meaning that the Court can choose which cases to hear by granting writs of

certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

. It is the court of last resort. The other two levels are the Magistrates and the Customary Court. In addition to the court, the judiciary also consists of the Judicial Service Commission, with statutory duties that include the promotion and appointment of judicial staff as well as other disciplinary functions. The Chief Judge serves as the commission's chairman.

Legislature

The legislature or state house assembly is one of the three co-equal arms of the State Government concerned with

lawmaking Lawmaking is the process of crafting legislation. In its purest sense, it is the basis of governance. This form of law making is also applied in India. It is a process which works in India on the basis of the Constitution of India. Lawmaking i ...

. The legislature consists of elected members from each constituency of the state. The head of the legislature is the

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

, who is elected by the house. The building of the legislature is situated inside the Lagos State Government house at Alausa in

Ikeja Ikeja is the capital city of Lagos State in southwestern Nigeria. Its population, as of the 2006 census, is 313,196. Prior to the emergence of military rule in the early 1980s, Ikeja was a well planned, clean and quiet residential and commercia ...

central business district,

. The legislative function of the legislature is to make laws by passing bills, which must be endorsed by the two-thirds majority of the house. Following the endorsement by the two-thirds majority, the bill is presented to the Governor, who will sign the bill to become law. The assembly assess and approve the annual budget of the state government on presentation by the governor. The assembly also play a significant role in the appointment of the state commissioners, Chief Judges and other top officials by the Governor.

Executive

The executive branch is one of the three co-equal arms of the State Government, concerned with policy making and implementation of bills. The executive is responsible for the daily administration of the state. Members of the executive include the Governor, deputy governors, and commissioners. There are also other top officials of the state, such as the head of service. The executives overseas the ministries. Each ministry is headed and coordinated by a commissioner, assisted by a permanent secretary.

List of ministries and their commissioners

References

{{Lagos State

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 ...