A former civilian governor of Kwara State, Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, is dead
The dormer governor popularly known as C.O. Adebayo died in the early hours of today, Wednesday, June 25, 2025.
Aged 84 years, Adebayo, a former senator who hailed from Oke Onigbin, Kwara State died in Abuja according to family sources.
Born on February 24, 1941, Adebayo was governor of Kwara State from October 1 to December 31, 1983.
Before then he was a Senator elected on the platform of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) platform from 1979 to 1983.
He was also minister of communications from 2003 to 2006.
Adebayo was a staunch member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) as pro-democracy activists sought to reclaim the mandate handed to MKO Abiola in the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
In 1993, Adebayo was offered a ministerial position in the Sani Abacha junta but declined.
On May 31, 1995, a bomb exploded in Ilorin, the Kwara capital.
The police arrested and grilled Adebayo and other members of NADECO over the incident.
He fled the country in 1996 for a brief exile in Canada as the junta reportedly closed in on him for a second time.
(vitalnewsngr.com)
