Biography of Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu (CON)

Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu (CON)

Oluwarotimi Odunayo Akeredolu (21 July 1956 – 27 December 2023) was a Nigerian lawyer and politician who served as governor of Ondo State from 2017 until his death in 2023. A distinguished Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a recipient of the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger, Akeredolu was widely known for his forthrightness and strong advocacy for justice.

In November 2011 he emerged as one of the major aspirants seeking the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship ticket for the 2012 Ondo State election. In an interview at the time, he described himself as a progressive leader whose national prominence as president of the Nigerian Bar Association had enhanced his public profile. He stated that, if elected, he would prioritise agricultural expansion, fish farming for export, improvements in the education sector, youth employment, and road infrastructure. He also promised free education and primary healthcare, alongside increased subsidies and greater autonomy for local governments.

On 28 July 2012 he was chosen as the ACN candidate for the Ondo State governorship election. His emergence positioned him in a three-way contest involving the incumbent governor Olusegun Mimiko and Olusola Oke of the Peoples Democratic Party. During the campaign, Akeredolu pledged to create thirty thousand jobs within his first one hundred days in office, a promise the PDP publicly dismissed.

Following the merger of several opposition parties into the All Progressives Congress (APC), Akeredolu won the party’s governorship ticket on 3 September 2016. He subsequently contested the 2016 Ondo State gubernatorial election and was declared the winner on 27 November 2016.

Governor of Ondo State

On 27 November 2016 the Independent National Electoral Commission announced Akeredolu as the winner of the election with a total of 244,842 votes. He defeated Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party, who obtained 150,380 votes, and Olusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy, who secured 126,889 votes. According to the returning officer, Professor Ganiyu Ambali, Akeredolu’s victory was decisive. He was sworn in as governor on 24 February 2017 at a ceremony held in Akure, the Ondo State capital.