Rotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Nigeria's southwestern state of Ondo, is dead.
Ondo State government said in a statement that the 67-year-old died during treatment in Germany in the early hours of Wednesday.
Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, Ondo State's Commissioner for Information and Orientation, said that Akeredolu's death "has left behind a profound void in our hearts."
Akeredolu died of prostate cancer complications, Ademola-Olateju said.
One-minute silence
"A letter has been sent to President Bola Tinubu to officially inform him of this devastating news," she added.
President Tinubu, who was presiding over an event in Nigeria's commercial capital Lagos on Wednesday, observed a one-minute silence in honour of the deceased governor.
Tinubu, in a statement, described Akeredolu as "a man who moved our nation towards equity, fairness and justice in his strident advocacy against every form of injustice in our country through the instrumentality of the law as a senior advocate, attorney-general of his beloved state, as President of the Nigerian Bar Association and Governor of Ondo State."
Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank, said in a statement that Akeredolu "fought a good fight."
Lawyer-turned-politician
"You were kind-hearted. You served your people with commitment. May God comfort your family and the people of Ondo State," Adesina said.
Akeredolu, a lawyer by training, served as Ondo State governor from February 2017 until his death. He successfully defended his seat in Nigeria's March 2023 election under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party.
He previously served as the attorney-general of Ondo State between 1997 and 1999.
Akeredolu is survived by a spouse and four children.
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