Otto-Awori LCDA boss Ashafa passes away

Chairman of Otto-Awori Local Council Development Area (LCDA) in Lagos State, Prince Musbau Ashafa, has died, throwing the local chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) into mourning.

Ashafa, a prince of the Ijanikin kingdom, died Friday after an undisclosed illness that lasted a few months.

According to reports, Ashafa had not been seen in public for some time while most of the council’s activities requiring his attention were performed by his Chief of Staff and younger brother, Waliu Ashafa.

Ashafa is serving his second term as chairman of the council. Before becoming the council boss, he was the Chairman of the APC in Otto-Awori LCDA.

Ashafa rose to prominence in 1997 during the late General Sanni Abacha’s military rule when he was elected Chairman of the old Ojo Local Government in the zero-party election.

Since then, he has been active in the politics of the Ojo axis, which later culminated in his becoming the local APC chairman and, subsequently, the substantive council boss.

Recall that APC had lost about four council chairmen within 12 months.

Chairman of Onigbongbo LCDA, Oladotun Olakanle, died in November 2024, and also Mrs. Bola Shobowale, the Chairman of Ayobo-Ipaja LCDA, in March 2025, died following a long battle with illness. Her death marked the end of a difficult period in which she had been absent from office for nearly a year due to health complications.

Also, immediate past council chairman of Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government, Toba Oke, died sometime in February after years of battling a terminal disease.