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Elder statesman and prominent Yoruba leader, Sen Ayo Fasanmi, is dead.
Newspeakonline gathered that nonagenarian died on Wednesday night after a brief illness in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
The development was confirmed on Thursday morning in a statement by the son of the Afenifere leader, Folabi,
“With great gratitude to the Almighty God for a life well spent, we wish to announce the demise of our father,Senator AYO FASANMI at the ripe age of 94 years.
“The Second Republic Senator who until his death was a leader of the Yoruba Socio-Cultural Group, Egbe Afenifere (ILOSIWAJU YORUBA) and a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, passed on peacefully in Osogbo on Wednesday night.
“The burial arrangement will be announced by his immediate family in conjunction with his political associates and the South West Governors.He was born 27th September, 1925,” the statement said.
Fasanmi was born in Iye Ekiti, Ekiti State and attended St Paul’s primary school, Ebute Metta and Government College, Ibadan before he proceeded to the Pharmacy School of Yaba where he received a diploma certificate in pharmacy.He practiced as a pharmacist at Oshogbo briefly before he joined the Nigerian politics.
He joined the Unity Party of Nigeria in 1978 and was a candidate in the Ondo State governorship primary election but lost to Michael Adekunle Ajasin, the former governor of Ondo State. In 1983, he was elected member of the Federal House of Representatives representing Ondo North.
He later served as member of the Board of Directors of the Old Western Nigeria Housing Corporation. During the Fourth Republic, he served as the National Vice Chairman of the Alliance for Democracy, South West zone.
Until his demise, he was one of the leaders of the APC.