The Grand Council of Yoruba Youths has mourned the passing of a chieftain of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Sen. Olabiyi Durojaiye.

Durojaiye, the immediate past Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Afenifere chieftain, died on Tuesday in Lagos at 88.

Mr. Awa Bamiji, the group’s President-General, in a condolence message in Lagos described his death as painful.

Durojaiye represented Ogun East on the platform of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) from 1999 to 2003 and member of the Constituent Assembly between 1988 and 1989.

Bamiji said: “With heavy hearts but with total submission to the will of the Almighty God, the Grand Council of Yoruba Youths painfully announces the death of a prominent NADECO chieftain.

“Durojaiye was also the Acting Leader of Afenifere Egbe Ilosiwaju Yoruba.”

Bamiji said the deceased played a prominent role during the NADECO struggles by ensuring that the military reverted the country to democracy.

He said Durojaiye was close to President Muhammadu Buhari, due to the zeal and honesty with which he worked with other committed colleagues while he was in the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN).

“This was during the change of the currency by the Buhari-led administration in 1983,” Bamiji said.

Army not abetting criminality in Abia – Nwachukwu

He said that the deceased would be sorely missed by the civil society, traditional, religious, and political class.

Bamiji said that as a Yoruba Youths leader and committed member of both the NADECO and Afenifere, he had worked under Durojaiye’s tutelage for more than 20 years.