Olatoye ‘Sugar’: Senate, House of Reps adjourn sitting to mourn Oyo lawmaker

Both chambers of the National Assembly resumed on Tuesday but adjourned till Wednesday in honour of the lawmaker representing Lagelu/Akinyele Federal Constituency, Oyo State, Mr Temitope Olatoye, alias Sugar, who was murdered on Saturday.

It is the custom of both the Senate and House of Representatives to adjourn plenary on the legislative day that follows the death of a member of either of the two chambers.

Suspected political thugs had during Saturday’s polls shot Olatoye. He eventually died at the University Teaching Hospital, Ibadan, where he was taken to.

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The Speaker, Yakubu Dogara; Deputy Speaker, Lasun Yusuf;  and Majority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, signed the  condolence register opened in honour of the deceased lawmaker.

Dogara wrote on Olatoye, “A fantastic, lively and super active member and colleague. No one should die in the circumstances of your death on a day you exercised your civic duty. We love you but God loves you even more. I feel the pain of your departure but the work you have done while alive will continue to bear witness to the kind of person you were. Rest in peace.”

Yusuf wrote, “Adieu Sugar. I pray your soul rest in perfect peace.”

Gbajabiamila wrote, “Sugar! Sugar!! Sugar!!! I am still in shock as is the whole House. You will be missed and I pray that you will rest in peace.”

Speaking with newsmen, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Abdulrazak Namdas, said, “We had to adjourn because it is  the  tradition. When we lose any of our colleagues, in their honour, we can only adjourn; we cannot sit. It is unfortunate that our colleague, Sugar, was shot dead when he was performing his civic rights.

“It is so unfortunate that this kind of thing happened in Nigeria. It is our hope that this should not happen again. We should be moving forward.  I think it is very unfortunate that it happened. In respect of that, we had to adjourn our sitting over his demise.”