President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday, condoled with the government and people of Oyo State over the passing of the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi.
They said Ajimobi’s contributions to the development of the state and the nation would always be remembered.
A statement signed by Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said that the President “commiserates with the family of the former governor, who served the country as a senator in 2003 before winning the governorship election in 2011, remaining constant in his progressive views, and working assiduously for the creation of All Progressives Congress.”
Tinubu, on his part, said: “With his departure, Nigeria has lost an outstanding statesman and one of its most able politicians.
Our party, the APC, has lost one of its leading lights; the Yoruba race and Oyo State have lost a favourite son; I have lost a dedicated friend, brother and ally.”
Governor Dapo Abiodun said: “Senator Ajimobi was a phenomenal public servant and business entrepreneur. He broke the second-term jinx in the governance of his state and had served at the Senate as a principal officer, and deputy minority whip creditably before attaining that height. He impacted on both law-making and executive arms in a manner that history cannot forget.”
Ajimobi, 70, was said to have passed on yesterday at the Cardiology Hospital, Ikoyi, Lagos, where he had been on treatment from complications arising from COVID-19.
None of the family members was available at his residence at Yemoja Street, Oluyole Estate, Ibadan, to confirm his death.
Few security men and a police vehicle from Oluyole Police Station were on ground to attend to visitors coming to the house.
One of the policemen at the premises said: “No family member is inside the house. We don’t know anything. We are just guarding the house.”
Ajimobi’s spokesman, Mr. Bolaji Tunji, said he was not aware of the incident, saying: “I am in Ibadan here and I don’t know what is happening where he is receiving treatment. So, I can’t say anything now.”
A source said the former Oyo State governor had been clinically dead since last week Thursday when all his internal organs had packed up after surgery to rescue his life.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos State Chapter, yesterday described Ajimobi as a person of admirable character who is needed most in the party at the time of his death to move the country forward.
The APC, in a statement signed by its Spokesman, Seye Oladejo, commiserated with the family members, leaders and members of the party.
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