Kwara government commiserates with Saraki over mother’s death

Florence Saraki, the mother of former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has died.

Mr Saraki, in a post on his official Facebook page, said she died on Tuesday at the age of 88.

“With profound sadness and total submission to the will of Almighty God, I announce the passing of our beloved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and matriarch, Chief Mrs. Florence Morenike Saraki, who peacefully transitioned today, Tuesday, June 18th, 2024,” Mr Saraki wrote.

The late Mrs Saraki was from the Ibidapo family in Owo, Ondo State. She was survived by four children: Bukola Saraki, Gbemisola Saraki, a former senator and Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development; Temitope Edu, a legal practitioner and businesswoman; and Laolu Saraki, who served as a Special Assistant to the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

The Saraki family “expressed gratitude for the love, prayers, and support they have received during this difficult time as they declared that details regarding funeral arrangements will be shared in due course.”

According to a statement on Wednesday, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State has condoled with the Saraki family on the death of their matriarch.

The statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, noted that the governor particularly commiserated with the former Senate President and the rest of the family on the sad development.

“The governor urges the family to be consoled by the fine legacies of their matriarch.

“‘He prayed to God for the repose of her soul and to uphold the family,” it stated.

The Saraki family has played a prominent role in the politics and governance of Kwara State for five decades.

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The patriarch of the family, Olusola Saraki (1933-2012), was the Senate Leader in the first assembly of the Second Republic (1979-83) and ran for president in the short-lived Third Republic and in the transition process that led to the Fourth Republic, while his first son, Bukola, was a two-term governor of Kwara State.

Gbemisola Saraki served for 12 years in the National Assembly, including as a senator for four years, before running unsuccessfully to succeed her brother as governor in 2011.