Ladi Adebutu, the 2023 governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, has paid tribute to former President Muhammadu Buhari and the late Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, describing their deaths as significant national losses.
In a condolence message issued Monday, Adebutu praised Buhari for his commitment to local government autonomy, calling it one of the defining features of his leadership legacy.
“President Buhari will be remembered for his unwavering belief in grassroots governance and returning power to the people,” Adebutu said, highlighting the former president’s alignment with a 2021 symposium he organized on the same issue.
Buhari, Nigeria’s former head of state, died on Sunday at the age of 81. Adebutu described him as a leader marked by integrity, simplicity, and sacrifice, whose austere lifestyle and dedication to national service would be remembered for generations.
He extended prayers to the late president’s family and the nation, urging Nigerians to build on the democratic foundations Buhari helped lay.
Adebutu also expressed deep sorrow over the passing of Oba Sikiru Adetona, who died the same day at the age of 91. He described the monarch as “royalty in its truest, noblest form.”
The PDP chieftain, who holds traditional titles including the Asiwaju of Odogbolu and Agba Akin Bobaniyi Akile Ijebu, said Oba Adetona’s 65-year reign was marked by wisdom, courage, and a steadfast commitment to justice.
He noted that the late monarch’s influence extended beyond Ijebuland, serving as a cultural and moral compass for Ogun State, the Yoruba nation, and Nigeria as a whole.
Adebutu concluded by calling both men irreplaceable figures whose contributions to governance and tradition would continue to resonate across generations.
