Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt Hon Funminiyi Afuye has passed on at 66.
Afuye, who represents Ikere constituency 1, reportedly died on Wednesday evening at Ekiti State Teaching Hospital where he was receiving treatment after suffering cardiac arrest.
He appeared at the inauguration of Governor Biodun Oyebanji on Sunday and was said to have also accompanied the latter to inspect bad portions at Basiri Area of Ado-Ekiti on Tuesday before the sudden turn of events.
Ekiti Deputy Speaker Hakeem Jamiu confirmed the incident to.
He said: ”It’s sad we have lost the Speaker. He died this evening. I can’t tell you more than that. The government and the Assembly are going to issue a statement to that effect soon”.
Another member of the House said the Speaker was rushed to the hospital after he suddenly developed complications over an undisclosed ailment.
The lawmaker said Afuye, a lawyer, died after attempts by doctors to save his life failed.
“This event is funny and shocking. Rt Hon Funminiyi Afuye was at the House of Assembly yesterday(Tuesday), so his death was devastating to us. It was a rude shock.
“We learnt he developed sudden complications this morning and was rushed to the hospital where he died,” the member said.
Afuye hailed from Ikere-Ekiti in Ikere Local Government Area. He was first elected to the Assembly in 2007 on the platform of the defunct Action Congress (AC) when the 26 seats in the Assembly were shared at 13-13 each by his party and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
He was the leader of his party’s caucus during the turbulent period to reclaim the mandate given to ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi in the 2007 governorship election, which was restored by the courts in 2010 after which Afuye became the Majority Leader following the defection of five PDP lawmakers to AC(N) to join the party’s 13 Assemblymen at the time.
At the end of his tenure in the House, he was appointed by Fayemi as Information Commissioner and later Commissioner for Regional Integration.
Afuye was re-elected to the Assembly in 2019 and emerged Speaker, a position he was denied in 2007 because of PDP’s control of the executive and last-minute change of Assembly’s Standing Order to prevent an opposition legislator from winning the Speaker’s seat.
The Nation
