President Bola Tinubu has appointed Dr Wasiu Olanrewaju-Smart as the new Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives)
President Bola Tinubu has appointed Dr Wasiu Olanrewaju-Smart as the new Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), replacing Rep. Ibrahim Olanrewaju, who resigned to pursue an elective position in his home state.
The appointment, which takes immediate effect, was announced in a statement issued on Sunday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Before his elevation, Olanrewaju-Smart served as Senior Special Assistant to the President on Intergovernmental Affairs, a position he assumed in October 2023.
The Presidency described the 40-year-old appointee as an accomplished scholar and public policy expert with extensive experience in legislative affairs and governance.
Olanrewaju-Smart holds a PhD in Educational Management from Lead City University and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University. He is an Edward Mason Fellow in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, a LEAPS Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and also earned a professional diploma in Public Relations from the London School of Public Relations.
He was also a Policy Fellow at Quantum Alliance AI in the United States, where he focused on artificial intelligence and civic technology.
His career in the National Assembly spans several strategic roles, beginning as Research and Media Assistant to the Minority/Majority Leader in the House of Representatives during the 7th and 8th Assemblies.
He later served as Special Adviser, Deputy Chief of Staff and eventually Chief of Staff to the Speaker of the House of Representatives in both the 9th and 10th Assemblies.
According to the Presidency, Olanrewaju-Smart has contributed to public policy development through research on several landmark legislations, including the Interest-Free Student Loan Act.
President Tinubu expressed confidence that the new Special Adviser would deploy his experience, intellectual capacity and commitment to strengthen coordination between the Presidency, Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), and the House of Representatives.
The statement added that the appointment takes immediate effect.
