A former senator and ex-governor of Kwara State, Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, has passed away at the age of 84.
According to family sources who spoke to an online medium, said Adebayo passed away early in the morning of Wednesday, 25 June, 2025.
Born on February 24, 1941, in the Igbaja community of Kwara State, Adebayo served as governor of the state in 1983.
He also served as Minister of Communications from 2003 to 2006 and was elected as a senator in 1979 on the platform of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
Adebayo was a member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which played a key role in the pro-democracy movement to restore the mandate given 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 capital of Kwara State.
Following the incident, the police arrested and interrogated Adebayo along with other NADECO members.
In 1996, he went into brief exile in Canada after fleeing the country, as the military junta was reportedly closing in on him for a second time.
Source: The Cable
