Tinubu’s ally, Kemi Nelson, dies at 66, APC mourns

A Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Mrs. Kemi Nelson, died yesterday during a brief illness. She was aged 66.
APC’s spokesman in Lagos State, Mr. Seye Oladejo, who confirmed the death, described it as, “tragic and very sad.”

She was one of the close loyalists of APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu. She also served as Executive Director of the Nigerian Social Investment Trust Fund during the first term of President Muhammadu Buhari. Chief Press Secretary to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Gboyega Akosile, also confirmed the death in a tweet.

MEANWHILE, the APC has expressed sadness over the passing of Nelson. Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Yakubu Ajaka, in statement in Abuja, described Nelson’s death as a big loss to the APC family.

He said: “We have lost a dear soul to the cold hands of death earlier today. May the soul of the late Kemi Nelson, former South-West Women Leader of the APC rest in peace and may God grant her immediate family, friends and associates the fortitude to bear this loss.”

Also, Chairman of APC, Ikeja Chapter and Chairman, Conference of the 57 APC Chairmen in Lagos, Adekunle Dally Adeokun, said: “With heavy heart, but with gratitude to Almighty God, we announce the death this morning of our Ikeja apex leader and state GAC member, Chief (Mrs.) Kemi Nelson. Our condolences go to her immediate family and the Ikeja political family.”

Nelson, famously known as Yeyesewa after her chieftaincy title, was born in Lagos on February 9, 1956 and attended Anglican Girls Grammar School, Ijebu-Ode, for her secondary education. For her tertiary education, she attended School of Nursing at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, where she qualified as a registered Nurse and Midwife. She got an MBA in Financial Management and a Diploma in Law from the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo.

She began her political journey in 1990 by joining the now defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) during the regime of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd). She was the senatorial candidate for Lagos West Senatorial District in 1992 and was defeated at the polls by Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In 1998, during the regime of Abacha, she contested for the Ikeja Federal Constituency in the House of Assembly as a member of UNCP. She won the election but it was truncated by the death of Abacha.

In 1999, she joined Alliance for Democracy (AD) and from 1999 to 2003, she served as the Lagos State Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation during the tenure of Bola Ahmed Tinubu and has served as the Women Leader of Lagos State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and was later made the South West Women Leader of APC. She was the only female serving member of the Lagos State Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC).