Ex-NADECO Chieftain, Olabiyi Durojaiye, is Dead

Former Presidential aspirant on the platform of defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) and chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, is dead.

He died on Tuesday morning after a brief illness. He was aged 88.

The late Durojaiye served as Senator for Ogun East Senatorial District on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy between 1999 and 2003. In Senate, he served in the Judiciary, Establishment and Special Project committees.

Between 1988 and 1989, he was a member of the Constituent Assembly. He vied for the presidential ticket of the SDP, which was won by late Chief MKO Abiola. After the anullment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, which Chief Abiola won, he joined hands with other prominent Nigerians and pro-democracy advocates to demand for the validation of Abiola’s victory.

Durojaiye was arrested by the military regime of General Sani Abacha, over his role in NADECO and was detained for 560 days, prompting Amnesty International to designate him a prisoner of conscience  and campaigned for his release from Abacha’s gulag..

A former director of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Durojaiye worked with the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve System in the United States. He also worked at the City University London.

Details later…