On Tuesday, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi, paid a condolence visit to the Jericho Ibadan residence of late Ondo Governor Rotimi Akeredolu.

Mr Obi, who visited Mr Akeredolu’s family alongside a well-known professor of economics, Pat Utomi, said he was in Ibadan to commiserate with the bereaved wife, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, and the entire family.

He described the late governor as a principled leader, patriotic Nigerian and dogged fighter.

He said Mr Akeredolu, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), was passionate about building a better and more productive Nigeria.

“He was a forthright person who stood on the side of the masses at all times,” Mr Obi said.

He prayed to God to grant the family, the people of Ondo State and the entire country the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

On his part, Mr Utomi said Mr Akeredolu was his classmate at Loyola College Ibadan in the 1960s.

He said the character traits displayed by Mr Akeredolu in the governance of Ondo State had been part of him right from secondary school.

Mr Utomi said Mr Akeredolu would not keep quiet in the face of oppression and never compromised on justice and equity.

He condoled with the people of Ondo State on the passing of Mr Akeredolu, describing it as a colossal loss to the state and the country.

(NAN