Ekiti State Deputy Governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, has described the death of Sen. Gbenga Aluko as shocking and a monumental loss to the state in particular and Nigeria in general.
Egbeyemi, in a statement on Monday by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Odunayo Ogunmola, said he received the news of the death of former Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate with a shock, saying it came when least expected.
According to him, Ekiti has lost one of the shining stars in its political firmament, a committed patriot, a selfless politician and a visionary statesman who truly loved his people.
He said the fact that the late Aluko was found worthy of occupying a principal officer’s position in the 4th Senate, when he represented Ekiti South between 1999 and 2003 attested to the qualities of leadership, integrity, brilliance and competence found in him.
Egbeymi said Aluko played politics without bitterness during his lifetime and had friends across the political divides with whom he maintained good relationship until his demise.
This, Egbeyemi noted, was the reason why the political class, irrespective of their ideological leanings are united in mourning the loss of the former National Assembly member.
He noted that the late Aluko would be remembered as one of the leading lights in the 4th Senate, who contributed to the entrenchment of the parliament as a bastion of representative democracy.
He said Aluko, in spite of the heights he reached was humble, accessible and compassionate to the indigent people who he assisted in his lifetime with scholarships and empowerment.
Egbeyemi commiserated with the family, friends, associates of the deceased and the people of Ode Ekiti, his hometown, praying God to grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
He said the deceased would be sorely missed by the entire people of the state and his political party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), where he was a leader. (NAN)
