Behold! Olayinka Ojo, New Permanent Secretary of Lagos Budget Office

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the weekend had sworn in newly appointed eight Permanent Secretaries in the Lagos State Public Service, charging them to lead with integrity and drive innovation to ensure the State remains a model of development, innovation, and inclusivity.

Permanent Secretaries are accounting officers of their ministries and among the newly appointed is Mrs. Olayinka Ojo, deployed to the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget to manage, account and drive administration of the office as the economic engine room of the state.

Ojo, prior to her new appointment was the Director, Economic Intelligence Department domiciled in the Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, where she played a pivotal role in the elevation of the unit to a full-fledged department.

Her public service career spread over two decades, starting in 2000 as a Commercial Officer II in the Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives, and Industry. She had at various times held key positions – Head of the Databank Division at the Lagos Bureau of Statistics from 2014 to 2022 and a focal point of the high-level Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) tool from 2009 to 2012 in the Economic Planning and Budget ministry.

As part of her achievements, she was fundamental to securing a $1 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which facilitated the digitization of the administrative data management system at the Lagos Bureau of Statistics.

Mrs. Ojo belongs to several professional organizations – Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria (ICEN), Chartered Institute of Statisticians of Nigeria (CISON), and has participated in numerous leadership and policy courses, including the CIPRA Leadership Program at Lagos Business School in 2024.

She obtained a Master’s degree in Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Lagos, Akoka in 2010 and holds a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in Mathematics from the University of Ilorin in 1997.

Happily married to Architect Kolawole Ojo, with whom she shares a loving family with two kids.