The Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has confirmed the death of Second Republic Senate Leader, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki.
Ahmed, in a statement, said Saraki died in his Lagos State home on Wednesday morning as earlier reported by The Eagle Online.
He said “His Eminence,” the Waziri of Ilorin and former Senate Leader would be buried in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, on Wednesday.
Ahmed’s statement, released by his Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba, reads: “The Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, has announced the death of His Eminence, Waziri of Ilorin, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki.
“… the Governor said the political icon died this morning at his residence in Lagos and will be buried Wednesday in Ilorin according Islamic rites.
“The governor urged community, religious and political leaders to troop out en masse to receive the remains of this illustrious son and Nigeria’s political icon later today at the Ilorin International Airport.”
It was gathered that Saraki’s son and former Governor of Kwara State, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has arrived in Lagos to make arrangements for the movement of the corpse to Ilorin for burial.
It was learnt that the younger Saraki and his other siblings just left Abuja this morning for Lagos to take their father’s remains home.
Saraki was born on May 17, 1933 in Ilorin, Kwara State.
He was educated at Eko Boys High School, Lagos State.
He attended the University of London and St George’s Hospital Medical School, London.
He worked as a medical officer at the General Hospital, Lagos and the Creek Hospital, Lagos.
His first foray into politics was in 1964 when he stood for the parliamentary election for Ilorin as an independent candidate.
He, however, lost, thus making a return to his medical practice.
In 1977, Saraki was elected as a member of the Constituent Assembly that produced the 1979 Constitution.
In 1979, he was elected a senator and went on to become the Senate Leader on the platform of the National Party of Nigeria.
He was re-elected in 1983 but the military intervention of December that year cut short his stay in the Senate.
In 1998, Olusola Saraki became a National Leader and member of the Board of Trustees of the All Peoples Party.
The APP produced the governor of Kwara State in 1999 in the person of Mohammed Alabi Lawal.
After he fell out with Lawal and crossed over to the Peoples Democratic Party, his son became the governor and ruled the state for eight years.
Saraki founded the defunct Societe Generale Bank.
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