…Former Governor of Oyo State Died At 71
…In-office as the governor of Oyo State from 12 January 2006 – 12 December 2006
…Returned to Ogbomoso on Tuesday from Abuja, where he had gone to felicitate a former Majority Leader of House of Representatives, Rep. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, on her birthday
The former governor of Oyo State,
Otunba Christopher Adebayo Alao Akala was confirmed dead in the early hours of Wednesday at the age of 71 in Igbomoso after he returned from a trip to Abuja.
He served as the Deputy Governor of Oyo State from May 2003 to January 2006. Following the impeachment of then-incumbent Governor (Rashidi Ladoja), Alao-Akala was sworn into office in January 2006 and served for 11 months.
In December 2006, the impeachment was overturned by the Supreme Court, and Rashidi Ladoja was reinstated.
Alao-Akala contested and won the gubernatorial election in 2007 as the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and became the executive governor of Oyo state, serving a full term till May 2011.
Akala died on January 12, 2022, exactly the day he was sworn in as Governor on January 12, 2006, after the impeachment of his boss, Governor Rashidi Ladoja. He died exactly a month after a prominent traditional ruler in his hometown, the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi Ajagungbade lll joined his ancestors.
Chief Akin Oke, Chairman, All Progressives Congress Caretaker Committee in Oyo State, has confirmed the death of Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, a former Governor of the state.
In a telephone interview with newsmen, Oke said: “It’s a rude shock because this is a personal loss to me. “I am down in all ramifications.
“I’m highly devastated and can’t really talk much for now. “Please, let’s talk later.”
Late Alao Akala was the only governor in the history of Oyo State to have served as a local government chairman, deputy governor, and governor. He hardly spent the weekend in Ibadan, but his hometown, Ogbomoso throughout his tenure as governor.
He was a polyglot with seven children. He was the first governor in the history of Oyo State to welcome a baby boy while serving as governor.
Alao Akala lost his father at the age of two years, the first police officer in Oyo State to become a civilian governor and also the first person from Ogbomoso to serve as ADC to Inspector-General of Police.
Also confirming his death, a former Military Governor of Oyo State, retired Major General Oladayo Popoola, described the demise of Alao-Akala as shocking.
Popoola, who is also a prominent indigene of Ogbomoso, the birthplace of Alao-Akala in Oyo State, said that news of his demise was communicated to him over the phone.
He said: “Yes, I have received the news.
“It’s shocking, but I won’t say anything until I get full details.”
A family source, who pleaded anonymity, informed journalists that the late Alao-Akala returned to Ogbomoso on Tuesday from Abuja, where he had gone to felicitate a former Majority Leader of House of Representatives, Rep. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, on her birthday.
The source said: “He returned from Abuja yesterday (Tuesday) and still held meeting with some people in the evening.
“He was found dead in his room this morning.”
The source said that he died in his Ogbomoso home and his remains had been deposited at the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, Ogbomoso morgue.
Alao-Akala, a retired Police Officer, was also a former Chairman of Ogbomoso North Local Government Area.
He was Deputy Governor from 2003 to 2007, and later governor from 2007 to 2011 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party.