The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), led by the acting National Chairman, Dr. Sadiq Umar Abubakar, has mourned the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Owolabi Olakusehin, who was elected to the House of Representatives on the party’s ticket in 1992.

The national leadership of the party condoles with the government of Oyo State and the people of Ibadan on the loss of a monarch who not only served his people well but also contributed to the nation as a military officer in his younger days and as a federal legislator during the aborted Third Republic.

In a statement on Tuesday by the National Publicity Secretary, Araba Rufus Aiyenigba, the party recognised the late Oba as a unifier and a key contributor to national development.

The party said it is very proud to have produced three successive Olubadans – the late Olubadan Lekan Balogun, Olubadan Owolabi Olakusehin (who recently passed away), and the current Otun Olubadan, the next in line to the revered stool of Olubadan, Senator Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja, who has previously served Oyo State as Governor.

The party prayed for the repose of Oba Olakusehin and wished Oba Ladoja, who has also served Nigeria as a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic under the SDP banner, the best of luck as he prepares to assume the exalted royal stool.

The party prays for the continued peace, growth, and development of Ibadan, the homeland of greats.