Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Ogun State, Olaniyi Ijalaye, has died in Abuja, after attending a meeting with other RECs at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters.
Ijalaye was said to have slumped on Monday evening after he returned to his hotel room.
The meeting, according to Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of INEC, focused on two off-cycle governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States, and seven vacant positions in the National and State Assemblies.
The deceased REC, an Indigene of Ondo State, was said to have participated actively during the meeting and was in good spirit before his death later in the evening.
Ijalaye assumed the REC position in Ogun State in March 2022 following the transfer of his predecessor, Olusegun Agbaje, to Lagos State.
Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State described the death of the REC as a rude shock.
The Governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Lekan Adeniran, commiserated with his family and the INEC for the loss.
Abiodun described the late REC as an honest, committed, and cerebral public servant with a high level of humility and patriotism, as well as an exemplary, uncompromising nature.
He, therefore, prayed for the repose of his soul and the necessary fortitude for his immediate family, friends, and colleagues to bear the irreplaceable loss.
