The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, on Tuesday paid a condolence visit to the family of the late governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, in Ibadan, Oyo State capital.
Obi visited the family of the late governor, who died on December 27, 2023, in the company of political economist and Labour Party chieftain, Pat Utomi.
In a post on his X handle, the former Anambra State governor described Akeredolu as a believer in a restructured and productive Nigeria.
His post read, “Today, together with my very dear elder brother, Prof Pat Utomi, I arrived Ibadan, Oyo State, to commiserate with the bereaved wife of Late Gov Rotimi Akeredolu, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, and the entire Akeredolu Family, as we all mourn the death of Gov Akeredolu.
“While Gov Akeredolu was the President of the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, and subsequently as a Governor, he stayed consistent on how to build a better Nigeria where there would be respect for the rule of law, security of lives and properties of Nigerian citizens.
“He believed in a restructured and productive Nigeria. May God who it pleased to call him home at this time grant him eternal rest and grant his dear wife, Mrs Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, the entire Akeredolu family, and all of us who mourn him, the fortitude to bear his irreplaceable loss.”
In a related development the leader of Yoruba socio-cultural organization, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, has said the memory of late the governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, will linger on for standing against the “domination and dictatorial power” of the former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said this while paying a condolence visit to the residence of the former governor at Jericho Quarters, Ibadan.
Chief Adebanjo said he paid the visit to the residence of Arakunrin Akeredolu not because he was a former Governor of Ondo, but because he stood firm against the invasion of Fulani herders when they attempted to take over the West.
He said: “Afenifere came here not because he was a former governor of Ondo State. But because of what he stood for and the kind of progressive politics he was involved in.
“He was a great patriot and nationalist who believed in what he said. He’s a very courageous and consistent man particularly when there was the invasion of Fulani herders in the West.
“He stood firm and called a spade a spade. He said Fulani should get out of the forest where they were hiding to perpetrate evil despite the domination and dictatorial power of Buhari. That’s my man.
“That’s what made me lead a delegation here. I could have sent anybody but I said no, not for Rotimi, a fantastic and a great son of Oduduwa, the czar of the Nigerian progressive governors,” the Afenifere leader said.
