There were reports doing the round that he died of COVID-19-related complications on Saturday.
But a statement by the his family only said Akande died in the early hours of Saturday after a brief illness.
The statement with the title: “Chief Harry Ayoade Akande, Agba Oye of Ibadanland (March 3, 1943-December 5, 2020)” reads:
“In the early hours of Saturday December 5, 2020, our patriarch Chief Harry Ayodele Akande passed away following a brief illness.
“Chief Harry Akande was an astute businessman of international repute whose legacy and influence cut across continents.
“But by far his greatest passion was for a better Nigeria that guaranteed equity and justice for all. It is our fervent hope that this will be a reality in the not too distant future.
“His passing is a huge shock to his immediate & extended family, friends & associates. We are all grappling to make some sense of it.
“As we seek the repose of his gentle soul, we ask you to in turn uphold us in your prayers while we pass through this very turbulent period of our lives occasioned by the loss of someone as dear as him.”
Harry Akande took the nation’s political terrain by storm when he attempted to take a shot at the nation’s presidency on the platform of the defunct All Peoples Party (APP).
He did not go far with the mega bucks he deployed in the enterprise as he could not win the party’s ticket.
But his entrance into partisan politics at that level of the quest for the presidential ticket in 2003 was heavily dramatised with his strategic and attention- grabbing political communication with presidential advert and poster messages as: “Harry Who?”
By 2007 and subsequent election years, he had become known as a serial presidential hopeful, but never succeeded at it.
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