Ex-Kwara deputy speaker dies in auto crash

Christopher Ayeni, former Deputy Speaker of Kwara state House of Assembly

A former deputy speaker of the Kwara state House of Assembly, Christopher Ayeni, on Thursday died in a fatal auto accident.

Ayeni who was the Deputy Speaker in the fourth State Legislative Assembly reportedly died in the accident which occurred at about 10:00 am at a distance of 500m away from Igbaja junction, Ajase-ipo in the Irepodun Local Government Area of the state.

The cause of the accident was attributed to overspeeding and lack of concentration.

The Public Relations Officer for the state FRSC sector command, Basambo Olayinka confirmed this in a statement on Thursday.

Olayinka said, “The accident involved five people, noting that all five sustained varying degrees of injuries and no fatalities occurred at the scene.”

However, Basambo added that Ayeni later succumbed to his injuries at a cottage hospital in Ajase Ipo, where he had been taken for treatment.

He said that items recovered items from the accident scene included two Android phones now held by the FRSC and two bags in the custody of the Nigeria Police at Ajase-Ipo Division.

Ayeni, a former candidate in the 2023 House of Representatives election under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the election.

Reacting to the loss, APC Kwara State Chairman Prince Sunday Fagbemi expressed deep sorrow over the tragic incident. Describing Hon. Christopher Tunji Ayeni, popularly known as “CT Ayeni,” as a great loss to the state, Fagbemi highlighted Ayeni’s significant contributions, including his roles as Commissioner for Agriculture, Senior Special Assistant on Agriculture, Deputy Chief of Staff, APC Secretary, and Chairman of the Governing Council at the Kwara State College of Health Technology, Offa. Ayeni also held the chieftaincy title of Akogun of Isapa Land in Ekiti Local Government Area.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the state chapter of the APC, Sunday Fagbemi, described the death of the former House of Assembly member and Deputy Speaker of the 4th Assembly, Christopher Tunji Ayeni, popularly known as CT Ayeni, as a great loss.

Fagbemi expressed deep shock over the sad incident that occurred in a fatal accident earlier today at Igbaja junction in the Ajase-Ipo area on his way to Ilorin.

“C.T Ayeni, a Civil Engineer turned politician also served as the Commissioner for Agric, S.S.A Agric, Dep. Chief of Staff, Secretary of the APC, chairman, Governing Council Members, Kwara State College of Health Technology, Offa and until his death, he was the Akogun of Isapa Land in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State.

“CT Ayeni will be remembered for his forthrightness, most especially the role he played in the last local government election, which predicted how dedicated he was to other public service he held throughout his lifetime.

“I expressed heartfelt condolences and sympathy to his immediate family, Isapa community, Ekiti Local Government Area, Kwara State House of Assembly where he once served as the number two member, and most especially APC as a family in Ekiti and Kwara South as a whole.

“I pray that God grant the soul of Late Chief Ayeni a peaceful rest, grant his family, friends and well-wishers, and his community, Isapa, the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss”, Fagbemi said.

Chairman of Ekiti Local Government area of Kwara state Hon. Awelewa Olawale also mourned the passing of an APC stalwart and former Deputy Speaker of Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon. Christopher Ayeni.

Honourable Ayeni, until his death, was a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, APC in Ekiti local government.

The Council boss in a press release by his media office described the late APC leader’s passing as a big loss to the local government.

He described him as ‘a core progressive, dependable politician and community leader’ who put in all his political sagacity into the recent Kwara State Local Government Councils’ Elections as Director of the directorate of Campaigns and Mobilisation of Awelewa Olawale/Olajide Caroline Campaign Council.