Former policeman and ex-governor of Oyo State Christopher Alao-Akala has died at the age of 71.
Sources quoted by The Nation said he left Abuja on Tuesday morning for Ilorin, Kwara State capital before proceeding to Ogbomoso in Oyo where he died in the early hours of Wednesday.
Born in Ogbomosho on June 3, 1950, he was enlisted as cadet inspector of police in June 1974, at the Nigeria Police College, Ikeja. Alao-Akala was later recommended for overseas training at the Hendon Police College, in London, among others.
He rose to become ADC to an inspector-general of police.
Alao-Akala founded the Ogbomoso Unity Forum, a political association that later joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was the Chairman of Ogbomoso North Local Government from 1999 to 2002.
He served as the deputy governor of Oyo State from May 2003 to January 2006. Following the impeachment of then-incumbent governor Rashidi Ladoja, Alao-Akala was sworn into office in January 2006 and served for 11 months. In December 2006, the impeachment was overturned by the Supreme Court, and Ladoja was reinstated.
Alao-Akala later contested and won the governorship election in 2007 under the platform of the PDP and became the governor of Oyo State, serving a full term till May 2011.
