By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
A serving Senator from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has died of a heart attack on Sunday.
New Nigerian gathered that Senator Isiaka Adeleke, 62, who was also the first democratic Governor of Osun State passed on at Bikets Hospital Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
Adeleke, who was a third-term Senator, was representing Osun West Senatorial district, having won the election in 2015, before his demise.
Family sources confirmed his death to the media.
Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke was born on 15 January 1955 to the family of senator Ayoola Adeleke and Esther Adeleke. He was born in Enugu and spent his early years in the city until the beginning of the Nigerian Civil War.
He started his primary education at Christ Church School, Enugu before moving to Ibadan, he completed his secondary education at Ogbomoso Grammar School. Adeleke holds a Bachelor Of Arts Degree, and a master’s degree In Public Administration. He was Chairman, Governing Council, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Pro-Chancellor And Chairman, Governing Council, University of Calabar, Nigeria.
During the Nigerian third republic, Adeleke ran for governor of the newly created Osun State which was carved out from Oyo State.
He was a member of SDP the dominant party in the state but he was not initially favored to win. The front runner was a lawyer, Oladipo Oladosu but after a close primary in which Adeleke came second, Adeleke was able to win a runoff.
He was then elected the first civilian governor of Osun State in 1992. Notable decisions made by Adeleke was the establishment of a polytechnic at Iree, a college of technology at Esa Oke and the completion of the Osun State Broadcasting Corporation. However, in 1994, after the dissolution of the republic, Adeleke pitched its tent to the opposition group, Afenifere but later switched to join a Democratic Party of Nigeria, a new political party with support from close associates of Abacha.
In 2007, Adeleke was elected senator for Osun West. His main competitor was Mudasiru Oyetunde Hussein, standing for the Action Congress.
Hussein had spent two terms in the House of Representatives (1999–2007) as a member of the Alliance for Democracy party in a Lagos State constituency, but originated from Osun state. Hussein appealed the election unsuccessfully.
Isiaka Adetunji Adeleke was appointed to committees on Upstream Petroleum Resources, Integration and Cooperation, Housing and Air Force.[1]
