Former Osun commissioner, Idowu Korede, is dead

Former Commissioner of Environment in Osun State, Idowu Korede, who passed on after failing to recover from an illness on Saturday.

Korede, served as a commissioner in the cabinet of ex-governor, Rauf Aregbesola, during his second term in office as Osun State governor.

He was also a notable figure in the now-defunct ‘The Osun Progressives’, a group within Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress backed by Aregbesola at the peak of his disagreement with his successor, Adegboyega Oyetola.

Beside serving as a commissioner, Korede, who hailed from Ilesa East as Aregbesola, was once the local government chairman.

It was not very clear the circumstances surrounding his death, but sources said late Korede had been struggling with an undisclosed health challenge; the situation that limited his public appearance.

Speaking with our correspondent, ex-Osun State APC chairman, Mr. ‘Lowo Adebiyi, confirmed Korede’s death and described him as a ‘reliable and trustworthy’ person.

Adebiyi said, “He was one of the great leaders of our tendency. He was very courageous, honest and hardworking. He was somebody you can trust and very principled and he believed in the ideals of party hierarchy, equity and justice.

“He is going to be greatly missed in our tendency as far as Ogbeni Rauf (Aregbesola) group is concerned. He contributed a lot when he was the Commissioner for Environment in the state.

“He was also the chairman of Ilesa East local government when we (APC) had the highest number of votes in Ijesa land. He died yesterday (Saturday) night in Lagos.”