Breaking: Grief as Former Governor of Kwara State Dies

• Former Kwara State Governor Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo has reportedly passed away at the age of 84
• According to family sources, Adebayo, who was also elected as senator under the defunct UPN, died in the early hours of Wednesday, June 25
• The late politician also served as the Minister of Information and Communication under the former President Olusegun Obasanjo's administration

Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, the former governor of Kwara State, has reportedly died at the age of 84. His death was confirmed by sources within the family, stating that the pro-democracy advocate died in the early hours of Wednesday, June 2, in Abuja.

The former governor was born on February 24, 1941, in the Igbaja community of the north-central state. Before his death, he remained a key figure in the political and democratic evolution of Nigeria.

When did Adebayo serve as Kwara governor?

Adebayo was the governor of Kwara State in 1983 and was subsequently elected as senator under the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) platform in 1979. The late former governor also served as the Minister of Communications of the Federal Republic of Nigeria between 2003 and 2006, under the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The late politician was a frontline member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO). The pro-democratic group resisted the military government and struggled to reclaim the June 12, 1993, presidential election mandate, a poll won by the late MKO Abiola.

In 1993, the former governor also rejected a position from the then-military government of the late General Sani Abacha. He was arrested by the police because of his link to the opposition activities following the bomb explosion in 1995. He 1996, he went into exile in Canada.

Kwara: Adebayo dies a month after Ayeni's death

Between 1975 and 1978, he was the Kwara State Commissioner for Education. Adebayo's death came months after a former deputy speaker of the Kwara state House of Assembly, Christopher Ayeni, lost his life in a fatal accident along the Ilorin-Ajase-Ipo Road in Irepodun Local Government Area.

The accident occurred around 10 am and involved a commercial truck and a Toyota Hilux. Unfortunately, Ayeni succumbed to his injuries in the hospital, while five others were injured in the crash.

Ayeni, also known as CT Ayeni, was a prominent figure in Kwara State politics, having served as Deputy Speaker from 1999 to 2000 and later as Commissioner for Agriculture from 2000 to 2003. He was also a 2023 House of Representatives candidate. His passing has sent shockwaves throughout the state, with many mourning the loss of a respected leader.

Court remands killer of Kwara student

Legit.ng earlier reported that a Magistrate court in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, has ordered the remand of Abdulrahman Bello, the acclaimed Islamic cleric, who was alleged to have murdered Adefalu Hafsat Yetunde.

Hafsat Yetunde is a final-year student at the Kwara State College of Education who was allegedly murdered by Bello for ritual purposes.

No counsel represented the suspect at the court, and he was arraigned alongside other accomplices.

Source: Legit.ng