LAGOS State commissioners-designate and special advisers to be sworn in by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode today have been enjoined to see their appointments as a call to service and not a tea party.

The state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which stated this yesterday reminded them that the Ambode administration cannot afford to let down millions of Lagosians who invested their votes to ensure victory for the party on March 28 and April 11.

In a statement by its spokesman, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, the APC urged the officials to put in their best and take the Centre of Excellence to loftier pedestal.

The party said: “We see their appointments as a call to service. So, we’re challenging them to put in their best to ensure that Lagos is taken far in its insatiable quest for excellence. We believe they are competent and well qualified for their appointments so we expect the best from the commissioners-designate and advisers.”

Reminding them that successive governments have built on the standard set by the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999, the party said the crop of commissioners and special advisers must not lower the bar of governance.

The statement reads: “Our party is aware that Lagos has set an enviable pace in governance. So, we believe the commissioners will key into the template that has advanced good and quality governance in Lagos these past 16 years. We charge them to be steadfast and work hard to step up the tempo and maintain Lagos as a pacesetter state in the country and even beyond.

“We see all the commissioners-designate as fulfilled professionals, achievers in their respective spheres of life who will bring their wealth of experience to bear to make Lagos stand out as one of the world’s few mega cities.

“As they come on board today to join hands with Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in upholding the status of Lagos as the mainstay of the nation’s economy, they should brace for the task ahead and hit the ground running in their assigned ministries and offices.

“While we congratulate the new commissioners and special advisers in Lagos, we will not fail to remind them that they have a very hard task to add value to the state. We urge them to be very dedicated in their new and higher callings and ensure that the parameters that have placed Lagos at forefront of the country’s progress are kept intact.”