Cornelius Adebayo
The burial rites for Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, a former senator and ex-governor of Kwara state, begin today.
Adebayo died on June 25 in Abuja. He was 84 years of age.
The funeral activities kick off with a night of tribute and service of songs at the Los Angeles Event Centre, Kado, Abuja.
The event is scheduled to start at 5pm today.
Advertisement
The Adebayo family said the activities will continue with a Christian wake-keeping and praise night at 4pm on October 10 at the Government Banquet Hall, opposite Government House, GRA, Ilorin, Kwara state.
The funeral service will commence at 10am on October 11, at the All Saints Anglican Church, Oke Onigbin, Kwara state.
Born in Igbaja community of Kwara, Adebayo was governor of the state in 1983.
Advertisement
He was minister of communications from 2003 to 2006 and was elected senator on the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) platform in 1979.
Adebayo was a 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.
Advertisement
He fled the country in 1996 for a brief exile in Canada as the junta reportedly closed in on him for a second time.
