President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed shock over the death, by coronavirus complications, of the former Governor of Oyo State, Isiaka Abiola Ajimobi. Senator Abiola Ajimobi died today, June 25, after being in life support for more than a week.
In a condolence message, President Buhari, sympathized with government and people of Oyo State over whom he governed, saying that his contributions to the development of the state, and nation, will always be remembered.
The President, who also sympathized with the family of the former governor, recalled that he served the country as a Senator from 2003 before winning the governorship election in 2011.
Late Ajimobi, according to Buhari, had remained steadfast and consistent in his progressive views, and worked assiduously for the creation of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
President Buhari said that the late governor left the world at a crucial moment when the party and the country needed his counsels to heal and grow.
“His absence will be sorely felt by all associates, particularly in the APC.”
Before joining politics, late Ajimobi, born on 16 December 1949, was Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company a subsidiary of Shell Petroleum, Nigeria.
He left the oil sector in 2002 after 26 years, and was elected in 2003 as a Senator of the Republic of Nigeria representing Oyo South Senatorial District on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD).
After one term in the senate, he contested in 2007 for the governorship of Oyo state under the banner of the ANPP, a bid which he lost. He re-contested in the April 2011 elections under the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), and was elected Governor of Oyo State in a closely contested vote.
His grandfather was Sobaloju of Ibadan Land (a chief in the royal court of Ibadan). His uncle, Hon. N.A. Ajimobi was minister of works and transport in the Western Region.
His father, Pa Ajimobi, was also an Honourable member of the House of Assembly in the old Western region.
He started his education at Saint Patricks Primary School, Oke-Padre in Ibadan and completed his primary education at Ibadan City Council Primary School, Aperin.
His secondary education was at Lagelu Grammar School. As a high school student, he was active in athletics, table tennis, and football, including serving as the school’s games prefect.
Ajimobi went to the university in the United States of America in New York and Chicago.
