Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa on Thursday paid a condolence visit to the family of his former boss Rotimi Akeredolu in Ibadan.
Akeredolu died of prostate cancer on Wednesday aged 67.
Aiyedatiwa, formerly Akeredolu’s deputy, was accompanied by members of the state executive council and state lawmakers.
It was his first official visit outside the state since being sworn in.
Aiyedatiwa assured the bereaved family that Akeredolu’s legacy would not be eroded while leading others in signing the condolence register.
Addressing journalists, he said: “We are here as a government under my leadership as the governor of Ondo State on behalf of the people of Ondo State to pay a condolence visit to the immediate and extended family of our former governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu SAN, who passed on yesterday. We are here in his private home here in Ibadan.
“We have to do this because he has always been our leader, a courageous one for that matter, one who has governed Ondo state in the last six and half to seven years, with great courage and with some many legacies he has left behind.
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“He is an exemplary leader, a courageous one, a leader that believes in fairness, equity and justice. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria who speaks on national issues so that so that adjustments and proper decisions can be made concerning any issue in Nigeria. So he’s known for that, as an activist.
“Today, he’s no more and we have to pay him that respect by coming to the family to condone and commiserate with them and we have done that. We pray that God will grant the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. And for those of us that he has left behind, to be able to emulate some of the values, the sterling qualities that he is known for so that we can keep on with the legacies that he has left behind.”
Younger brother of the deceased Pastor Kola Akeredolu thanked the delegation for the visit on behalf of the family.
