Babatunde Raji Fashola of Yoruba origin, from Lagos, was born in Lagos on 28 June, 1963. He attended Birch Freeman High school Lagos and Igbobi College Lagos. He studied Law at the University of Benin from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws, LL.B.(Hon), degree in 1987.

He was called to the Nigerian Bar as a solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in November 1988 after completing the professional training programme at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos which he undertook between 1987 and 1988. His legal career of over one and a half decades, commenced in the law Firm of Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe and Belgore, where he cut his legal teeth as a litigator over such wide-ranging areas of specialisation as, intellectual property (registration of trade marks), commercial law, covering general contracts, company activities, mergers, acquisitions, right issues, ownership of shares and equity of corporations, as well as land disputes, criminal law and chieftaincy matters, in all of which he has come to acquire appreciable expertise and vast experience.

The biggest task Babatunde Raji Fashola faced in office as Governor of Lagos State is his visionary project to transform Lagos into a mega city, the first of its kind in Lagosian history. Although initialised under the former governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in June 2002, the mega project task accelerated under Fashola’s governorship. Both private and public sectors are involved in fulfilling the project.

Babatunde Raji Fashola commenced a four-year tenure as the Executive Governor of Lagos State in Nigeria on 29 May 2007. In June 2007, Babatunde Fashola appointed former Inspector General of Police Musiliu Smith head of the Lagos State Security council, a body charged with taking a holistic look at the anatomy of crime in the state.

In October 2009, Babatunde Fashola posthumously dedicated a garden personally, in honour of the memory of late professor Ayodele Awojobi at Onike Roundabout, Yaba, Lagos, with a statue of the famous academic erected at the centre. Artists of repute such as Oladejo Victor Akinlonu has commended the Governor on a job well done on the various value enhancement and beautification of Lagos state being a pioneer in the beautification of the state since the 80’s Oladejo enjoined artists to work with the Governor Oladejo’s works such as the eyo masquerade and the Bust of Sir Alexander Molade Okoya Thomas where commissioned by the Governor.

But in late January 2010, the Lagos State House of Assembly launched an investigation into possible mishandling of tax payers’ money by Fashola, mainly on the ongoing mega city project. The accusations range from importing of palm trees from Niger, for gardening projects within a rain forest state, to improper usage of contract money involving one of Lagos State’s contractors. The group carrying out the investigation was known as the “True Face of Lagos”. The final reports were due to be submitted on 15 February 2010, During his tenure in office True Face of Lagos was later abolished. There were attempts to re-launch the probes through a petition, but they were again being turned down by the court.

He was re-elected on 26 2011 and was sworn in as Governor for his second term in office on May 29, 2011; completing 8 years as a Governor. According to The Tribune Newspaper, Babatunde Raji Fashola remains a reference point in 21st century Governance.

In May 2014, Fashola announced the compulsory use of life jackets on Lagos waterways. In a 2012 accident, ten children from Ijora Awori, Lagos State, drowned while they were being ferried to school, because they were not wearing life jackets.