Inside Nigeria
18 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Abiola Ajimobi
1. The late Isiaka Abiola Adeyemi Ajimobi was born on December 16, 1949, at Oja-Iba, Ibadan, Oyo State.
2. A silver-spoon, he was born into a royal family as his grandfather was the Sobaloju of Ibadan Land (a Chief in the royal court of Ibadan).
3. Politics runs in the Ajimobi family as his father, Pa Ajimobi, was a member of the House of Assembly in the Old Western Region while his uncle, Hon. N.A. Ajimobi, was Minister of Works and Transport in the Western Region.
4. Abiola Ajimobi started his education at the Saint Patrick Primary School, Oke-Padre, Ibadan, and completed his primary education at Ibadan City Council Primary School, Aperin. His secondary education was at Lagelu Grammar School.
5. He was the Games Prefect in his school and was very active in athletics, table tennis, and football.
6. Ajimobi studied Business Administration and Finance at the State University of New York, in Buffalo, New York, United States of America, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree. He had his MBA in Operations Research and Marketing with a concentration in Finance at Governors State University, University Park, Illinois.
7. Ajimobi married Florence Ajimobi in 1980 and they have five children. His first daughter is Abisola Kola-Daisi, an entrepreneur and founder of Florence H Luxury.
8. He spent 26 years in the oil and gas sector of the economy after which he plunged into private business and later, politics.
9. He was elected in 2003 as a Senator of the Republic of Nigeria representing Oyo South Senatorial District on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, and served as the Deputy Minority leader of the Senate. He spent just one term in the senate.
10. Ajimobi began to put life to govern Oyo State in 2007 when he contested the governorship of the state under the banner of the All Nigeria People’s Party, ANPP. He lost.
11. Again, he threw his hat into the ring in the April 2011 elections under the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and luckily was elected Governor of Oyo State in a closely contested vote.
12. He contested for a second term on April 11, 2015 under the All Progressives Congress, APC, running against two of his predecessors in office, Chief Christopher Alao Akala and Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja.
13. With his victory, Ajimobi broke a jinx by becoming the first governor of Oyo State to serve two terms.
14. Ajimobi won the All Progressive Congress, APC, ticket to run as candidate for the Oyo South Senatorial District, an election that held on September 28, 2018, but lost to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, Senator Kola Balogun.
15. On June 2, 2020, Ajiombi was admitted to the First Cardiologist and Cardiovascular Consultants Hospital in Ikoyi, Lagos on 2 June 2020, with COVID-19 symptoms.
16. On June 17, 2020, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) endorsed Ajimobi as the acting national chairman of the party.
17. On June 18, Ajimobi was rumoured to have died but it turned out to be false.
18. 18. On June 25, Ajimobi died, aged 70.