Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
Former acting National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the immediate past governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, will be given a private burial, which will solely be family affair in observance of the COVID-19 guidelines, as released by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
Special Adviser to the late governor on Communication and Strategy, Mr. Bolaji Tunji, who disclosed this during an interview with journalists at Oluyole Estate residence of the Ajimobis in Ibadan yesterday, said the family would announce the funeral activities for the deceased.
He debunked earlier media reports that the remains of Ajimobi, who administered the pacesetter state from 2011 to 2019, would be interred according to Islamic rites in Ibadan yesterday, June 26. Ajimobi died, at the age of 70, at a private hospital in Lagos on Thursday due to COVID-19 complications.
Tunji said: “We have all heard that he answered the call of God on Thursday June 25. He was 70 years old when he left this world. The family will announce the burial arrangement. However, considering the situation in the country, it is going to be a private arrangement, a family affair. In spite of everything, we still have to observe the COVID-19 protocols as established by the NCDC.”
He enjoined sympathisers who have been thronging the Sixth Avenue, Oluyole Estate residence of the deceased to always obey the NCDC guidelines on COVID-19 by washing their hands regularly with soap and water, using facemasks and keeping social distance, to check the spread of coronavirus, which is currently at the level of community transmission.