The funeral rites for Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, a former Senator and past Governor of Kwara State, are scheduled to commence today.

Mr Adebayo passed away in Abuja on June 25 at the age of 84 years.

The funeral activities will kick off with a night of tribute and service of songs at the Los Angeles Event Centre, Kado, Abuja. The event is scheduled to start at 5pm today.

According to the Adebayo family, the activities will continue with a Christian wake keeping and praise night at 4 pm on October 10. This event will be held at the Government Banquet Hall, situated opposite the Government House in GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State.

The funeral service itself will commence at 10 am on October 11, at the All Saints Anglican Church, Oke Onigbin, Kwara State.

Born in the Igbaja community of Kwara, Adebayo served as the state's governor in 1983.

He was minister of communications from 2003 to 2006 and was elected senator on the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) platform in 1979.

Adebayo was a member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) as pro-democracy activists sought to reclaim the mandate handed to MKO Abiola in the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

In 1993, Adebayo was offered a ministerial position in the Sani Abacha junta but declined.

On May 31, 1995, a bomb exploded in Ilorin, the Kwara capital. The police arrested and grilled Adebayo and other members of NADECO over the incident.

He fled the country in 1996 for a brief exile in Canada as the junta reportedly closed in on him for a second time.