Chief (Mrs.) Lucia Onabowale Onabanjo, the widow of Ogun State’s first civilian governor, Chief Victor Olabisi Onabanjo, has passed away at the age of 100.

Her passing was announced by her daughter, Ms Olubukunola Onabanjo, on Tuesday.

According to Ms Onabanjo, the matriarch of the Onabanjo dynasty died at the age of 100.

She said in a statement: “The family of Chief Victor Olabisi Onabanjo, former Governor of Ogun State, announces with deep sorrow, yet with gratitude to Almighty God, the passing of our beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.

“Chief (Mrs) Lucia Onabowale Onabanjo (1925–2026) was called to glory on Monday, January 11.

“We thank God for her long and fulfilled life, and for the enduring legacy of love, strength and faith she leaves behind.

“May her soul rest in perfect peace.”

Amid the political rivalry with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ayodele Fayose, on Tuesday, urged Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State to emulate his counterpart from Ekiti State, Biodun Oyebanji.

Fayose said Fubara should be like Oyebanji who once begged him for support.

Speaking in an interview, Tuesday, on Arise Television, Fayose urged Fubara to be humble to Wike because the Minister gave him the platform.

He said: “May I say this to you and to Nigerians, you brought up, like the example I have given, you brought up your child, you trained her, and somebody says I want to marry this girl.

“The credit goes to you. If you have left that girl rotten, ordinary carpenters and people who have no capacity will be chasing her.

“He must have capacity at different levels of life. Life is about level by level. God has graduated this life like a pyramid, you have Asiwaju up there, the governors, the ministers, everybody is at a level.

“You can’t tell me, majority of times, you can’t tell me a man who is down the ladder wants to marry a queen somewhere. They will tell you, you don’t have the capacity.

“So let’s go back to the issues, everybody must have helped everybody in life. But God in himself, God says I hate ingratitude. I will only fight with what I have left.

“You can’t sack Wike from Rivers politics, you can’t sack me from Ekiti politics. I’m not supposed to say what I want to say to you now and I will say it to you.

“It’s about Ekiti politics. I was in this house three years ago. The current governor of Ekiti is of the APC extraction. I am of the PDP. He came to this house, he said, leader, I would want to visit with you. I said, you’re welcome, Your Excellency.

“He came here and sat on the chair and said, Your Excellency, I want to beg you, I want you to come to my support and my aid. I want you to stand by me in this government. I didn’t go to him. He’s the governor. He deserves all honour.”

The next Awujale of Ijebuland may emerge in the next 14 days, the Olori Ebi of Fusengbuwa Ruling House, who is also Otunba Jadiara, Lateef Owoyemi, has said.

Otunba Owoyemi gave the indication while answering questions from reporters after the conclusion of the nomination process.

The nomination meeting held at Bisi Rodipe Hall, GRA, Ijebu Ode, was attended by representatives of Ijebu Ode Local Government led by the Secretary, Abiodun Oke-Adebanjo.

Other leaders of the ruling house at the meeting included Deputy Olori Ebi, Otunba Adedokun Ajidagba, Chairman, Chief Fassy Yusuf, among others.

Although 95 princes and princesses had shown interest in the stool of Awujale of Ijebuland, only 85 went through the nomination process.

Fuji maestro, Wasiu Ayinde, aka KWAM1, was not part of the nomination process, as his name was not one of the 85 nominations mentioned.

Owoyemi said everybody who went through the nomination process had signed a bond that there would be no litigation after the process.

He said the names of those who scaled the nomination process would be submitted to the Afobaje (Kingmakers) today.

“It was a peaceful process. It is now the turn of the Afobaje to do their traditional work of selecting the next Awujale.’’

He said the Afobaje would pick one of the candidates as the next Awujale and subsequently the ruling house would forward his name to Ogun State Government.

“I pray God to guide them in the exercise so that they can give us an Awujale that will make Ijebu Ode great.”

Asked how the choice would be made, Otunba Owoyemi said: “The one that the oracle will pick is among the 85 that went through the nomination process.

“The kingmakers will select the best king for us.

“We thank God that there was no commotion throughout the process. Everything went smoothly, there was no rancour. Everything has ended well. So we look forward to the next stage.

‘’We hope the kingmakers and Ogun State Government will do well to select one candidate among the nominees that aligns with the yearnings of Fusengbuwa Ruling House, their ancestors and Almighty God as revealed by the Oracle (Ifa).’’

He said the next stage is now for them to transmit the names of the candidates to the kingmakers to do justice to the selection process.

Chief Yusuf thanked God that the anxiety and the apprehension were over.