Akinwunmi Ambode (born June 14, 1963) is an
accountant, an administrator and a public finance
management expert. He is the Chief Executive Officer of
Brandsmiths Consulting Limited – a firm that specializes in
public sector finance management. Ambode was formerly
the Accountant-General of Lagos State, Nigeria, and held
many sensitive financial positions in the Lagos State
government in a 27-year career in the Lagos State Civil
Service. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered
Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and a Member of the
Nigerian Institute of Management. He is the founder of La
Roche Leadership Foundation, a non-profit organization
focused on developing the next generation of leaders. He
is married to Bolanle Patience Ambode (nee Odukomaiya)
and they are blessed with children.
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
Akinwunmi was born on June 14, 1963 at the Epe General
Hospital, Epe, Lagos, as the sixth of ten children. His late
father, Festus Akinwale Ambode was a teacher while his
mother, Christianah Oluleye Ambode (nee Oresanya) was
an entrepreneur who ran a thriving sewing business in
her prime. In 1967, when Akin was still four years old, his
father moved to the mainland part of Lagos with the
family and continued his teaching career until his death
in 1981. Akinwunmi Ambode began his education at St.
Jude’s Primary School, Ebutte Meta, Lagos, Nigeria in
1969. In 1974, while still in Primary 5, he sat for the
National Common Entrance Examinations and was
admitted to Federal Government College, Warri in the
same year.
Ambode spent 7 years in Warri, where he completed his
Ordinary and Advanced Levels and had the distinction of
achieving the second best result in all of West Africa in
the Higher School Certificate Examinations in 1981. He
was on the school’s Hockey and Cricket teams and was
part of the then Bendel State Cricket team while still a
student.
Ambode proceeded to University of Lagos where he
studied Accounting, graduating at the age of 21 in 1984.
He completed his mandatory[National Youth Service Corps
year serving with the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sokoto,
Sokoto State, where he started his relationship with the
Public Service.
CIVIL SERVICE CAREER
After his NYSC year, Ambode commenced his career at the
Lagos State Waste Disposal Board (now LAWMA) as
Accountant Grade II. He enrolled for Institute of
Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) exams and at the
same time was awarded a Federal Government
Scholarship to pursue a Masters Degree in Accounting at
the University of Lagos. By the time he was 24, Ambode
had qualified as a Chartered Accountant and had
completed his Masters Degree programme in Accounting,
specializing in Financial Management.
His career was fast-tracked and in 1988, Akinwunmi
Ambode was appointed the Assistant Treasurer, Badagry
Local Government. In 1991, he was posted to Shomolu
Local Government as Auditor. He was later deployed to
Alimosho Local Government as Council Treasurer. Ambode
was posted back to Shomolu as Council Treasurer and
later on to Mushin Local Government as Council
Treasurer. He criss-crossed many Local Government
Councils in different roles in a 10-year period and got a
first-hand experience of the direct impact of governance
on the citizenry.
In 1998, Ambode was awarded the US Fulbright
Scholarship for the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship
program, in Boston University, Massachusetts, USA. His
Fellowship Year was spent studying Public Leadership
with emphasis on Finance and Accounting. During this
programme Ambode had professional internships at The
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, the Cabinet Office of
Administration and Finance (Governor’s Office), City of
Boston Treasury Office as well as with the World Bank
and IMF.
On his return from the programme, Ambode became
acting AuditorGeneral for Local Government. This position
was confirmed by the State House of Assembly in 2001.
In January 2005, Ambode was redeployed to mainstream
public service as the permanent secretary of the Ministry
of Finance. By February 2006, Ambode was given the
added responsibility ofaccountant general for Lagos State,
in charge of all the financial activities of the state and
directly responsible for over 1400 accountants in the state
service. Under his watch, the State Treasury Office (STO)
revolutionized the way Lagos State finances were raised,
budgeted, managed and planned. In his six years as the
Lagos State accountant general, the state's financial
performance improved visibly with the budget performing
at a remarkable average of 85% annually. Ambode
believes that "public financial management is about
ensuring that public money is well spent and it is made to
stretch as far as possible. It provides leaders and public-
sector managers with information to make decisions and
to know if they are using resources effectively.
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT
Ambode is a very active member of the Federal
Government College, Warri Old Students Association
(FEGOCOWOSA) and is credited with revitalizing the
Lagos branch of the Association. Ambode was a two-time
chairman of the Lagos State Branch, and, until recently,
was the National President of the Association, a position
he held for three years. In those three years, he executed
key projects in the school in conjunction with the alumni
network to improve the educational and living standards
of the students.
THE PUBLIC FINANCE CONSULTANT
After 27 years in the civil service, Ambode voluntarily
retired in August 2012. He founded Brandsmiths
Consulting Limited to provide Public Finance and
Management Consulting services to government at all
levels, its parastatals and agencies. Brandsmiths, in
collaboration withPrice Waterhouse Coopers, has trained
government accountants and finance personnel to prepare
them for the cut-over to the International Public Sector
Accounting System (IPSAS) which is to become effective in
2015.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
His belief in mentoring and passion for passing on
leadership skills gave birth to La Roche Leadership
Foundation , which he founded in 2012. This is a non-
profit organization that has a mandate to develop the
educational and leadership skills of young Nigerians, to
inculcate in them leadership values as a way of grooming
future leaders in all spheres of life. La Roche is presently
spearheading an initiative, ‘The Flags Project’, to install
Nigerian and Lagos State flags in all government owned
schools in Lagos State. The Foundation has also donated
tools to technical colleges to support training of artisans.

Make I keep chair for here as per FTC!!! I dey come.

Ok, back now!

This man is young and very active! Wow! Great CV he's got.

Ideyontop:
Make I keep chair for here as per FTC!!! I dey come.

lol

What religion is he

You have tried Mr. Ambode...

Is he Igbo?

Very smooth write up...
He rose thru the ranks and especially in positions where he could access funds easily.
As much as I don't expect him to write against himself... Going by the write up and the needed support from bourdillon.... He is Lagos next gov.

One thing I can give to Tinubu is the fact that he knows how to pick a winner and to back him or her up to the fullest when it comes to his gold mine.

Finance is the fulcrum of every organisation. Bringing in a finance man who is a christian is a brilliant move. Tinubu is a political Mourinho.

ibedun:
Is he Igbo?

No, he is Kanuri