The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr. Peter Obi, on Tuesday, described the late governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, as a patriotic Nigerian, dogged fighter and principled leader.
Obi said this on Tuesday during a condolence visit to the Jericho, Ibadan home, of the late former governor of Ondo State in company of Prof. Pat Utomi.
Akeredolu, according to Obi, was a dogged fighter and forthright person who stood on the side of the masses at all times.
He prayed to God to grant the family, the Ondo State people and the entire country the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss just as he prayed eternal rest for the departed governor.
Obi said as President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Akeredolu was passionate about building a better and more productive Nigeria.
According to him, ” Today, together with my very dear elder brother, Prof. Pat Utomi, I arrived Ibadan, Oyo State, to commiserate with the bereaved wife of late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, and the entire Akeredolu family, as we all mourn his death.
“While 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,” Obi stated.
Similarly, Prof. Utomi who was a classmate of the late governor at Loyola College Ibadan in the 60s, recalled that the character traits displayed by Akeredolu in the governance of Ondo State had been part of him right from secondary school.
He said Akeredolu was not one who would keep quiet in the face of oppression and that he never compromised on justice and equity.
He condoled with the people of Ondo State on the passing of Akeredolu describing it as a collosal loss to both the state and the country.
The immediate younger brother of the deceased, Prof Wole Akeredolu, while responding on behalf of the family, thanked Obi and Utomi for the visit and their support for the family.
In his remarks in the condolence register, Obi wrote, ” May God Almighty who called you home grant you eternal rest in His kingdom and grant your family and all of us the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss. God Almighty bless your family.”
Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan
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