Facts emerged yesterday that the late strongman of Kwara politics and Second Republic Senate Leader, Dr. Olusola Saraki, had, for the past five years, been battling with cancer, a disease which eventually snuffed life out of him in the early hours of Wednesday.

His last son, Olaolu, confirmed to newsmen that his late father died of cancer and all efforts to cure the ailment proved abortive. Findings by Saturday Sun in Ilorin revealed that the late Saraki had travelled to several hospitals abroad, between 2007 and 2012 when his health began to deteriorate as a result of cancer, which he had been suffering from for a long time.

It was learnt that Saraki, himself a medical practitioner, used all his connections across the world to cure the disease, but his efforts did not yield any positive result as he eventually succumb to the disease at the age of 79. It was further learnt that Saraki's health deteriorated shortly after the 2011 general election when his biological daughter lost the governorship poll to the incumbent Governor, Alhaji Abdullfatah Ahmed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The 2011 election was the first time Saraki, who was adjudged the father of Kwara politics, would lose an election to another political party, a development which pained him to the marrow. Saturday Sun reliably gathered from close aides of Saraki, who preferred anonymity, that Saraki had been Kwara State for months and he had refused to participate in any social or political functions since the last general election as a result of his failing health.

A close associate of Saraki and the Mongaji Nda of Ilorin, Alhaji Saliu Woru Mohammed, told Saturday Sun that the late political Icon did not show up in the state during the last eid el Kabir festival, saying such development was unusual of Saraki in his past 40 years of active politics in the state. The reason for his absence in the state during the festival, he did not give, but it was gathered that the development may not be unconnected with his state of health.