– Former Ondo State governors who are late
By Bunmi Onakan
Notably, since its creation in 1976, the old Ondo State had been governed by many leaders both military and civilian governors.
Among the many elected governors that had governed the state in the past, there is only one former governor of Ondo state who is still alive.
He is Olusegun Mimiko, the first Labour Party (LP) governor in Nigeria.
Mimoko famously known as Iroko, during his tenure, was the governor of Ondo State from 2009 to 2017.
He succeeded Olusegun Agagu through a Court of Appeal judgment that halted the Agagu’s reign as a second-term governor after two years in office.
Agagu, elected as Ondo Governor in 2003 and 2007 on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) died in 2013 at 65 years old.
Mimiko was succeeded by Rotimi Akeredolu, one of the strongest voices of the southwest in recent times.
Akeredolu who was buried on Friday, February 23, 2024, was the governor of Ondo state from February 24, 2017, until his death on December 27, 2023, at the age of 67 years.
After he left office as governor in 2017, Mimiko tried to secure elective office in 2019 as the senatorial candidate of the Zenith Labour Party for Ondo Central Senatorial district – but he couldn’t replicate the massive support that made him governor in 2009.
Before he became Governor of Ondo state, Mimimo was a former Minister and multiple-term commissioner in Ondo state as well as Secretary to the State Government at a point in time.
List Of Executive Governors Who Governed Ondo State:
Ajasin, Ondo’s first elected governor
– Late Adekunle Ajasin
During the second republic, Michael Ajasin served as governor of Ondo state from 1979 to 1983 under the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN). He became the first democratically elected governor of the state.
The then-leader of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), a coalition formed to bring an end to the military government of Sani Abacha, was later arrested in 1995, along with 39 other activists, for holding an illegal political meeting.
Two years later, the former Ondo governor died of “natural causes” in his home at the age of 78.
Olumilua:
– Late Chief Bamidele Olumilua
Bamidele Olumilua became governor of Ondo in the third republic from January 1992 to November 1993 on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
However, he was forced to leave office when Abacha took power.
Some of the roles he held after his time in office included chancellor of Ekiti State University and chairman of the Christian Pilgrims Board, and later went on to become one of the founding members of the Action Congress (AC) party, formed in 2006.
In 2020, Muyiwa, the former governor’s son, said he died after a brief illness at the age of 80.
Adefarati:
– Late Chief Adebayo Adefarati
Adebayo Adefarati was among the ‘class of 1999’, the first elected governors who served after the military era was halted and the fourth republic was welcomed on May 29, 1999.
His election into office was not surprising as the politician was a prominent member of NADECO.
After his tenure as governor from 1999 to 2003, Adefarati later became a presidential candidate for the Alliance for Democracy party in the 2007 presidential election. However, a few weeks before the polls, he died from an undisclosed ailment. He was 76 years old at the time of his death.
Agagu:
– Late Olusegun Agagu
Before becoming Ondo’s second democratically elected governor, Olusegun Agagu was deputy governor to Olumilua.
However, the geologist was forced to leave office when Abacha’s regime took power. In 1999, former President Olusegun Obasanjo appointed him as the first minister of aviation in 1999 and later as minister for power and steel.
Agagu became governor in 2003 until February 2009, when a court voided his re-election as governor on account of electoral irregularities. Olusegun Mimiko, his namesake and rival, was sworn in as his replacement.
Four years later, the former minister was said to have slumped and died in Lagos in 2013 at the age of 65.
Mimiko:
– Olusegun Mimiko
Olusegun Mimiko, a two-time state commissioner for health, served as Ondo governor from 2009 to 2017.
After the court of appeal decision revoking Agagu’s victory, Mimiko became the first and only member of the Labour Party to win gubernatorial office in Nigeria. After his first term, he sought re-election and won, making him the first governor in the state to win a second term bid since 1999.
After leaving office, Mimiko declared his intention to run for president in the 2019 election. However, a few days before campaigns began, the former governor withdrew from the presidential race and instead, declared interest in the Ondo central senatorial election.
His lofty goals crashed.
Akeredolu:
– Late Rotimi Akeredolu
Mimiko was succeeded by Rotimi Akeredolu, one of the strongest voices of the southwest in recent times.
Akeredolu who was buried on Friday, February 23, 2024, was the governor of Ondo state from February 24, 2017, until his death on December 27, 2023, at the age of 67 years
