Yusuf Olaniyonu, former SA to Senate President, loses wife

“She told my children, their friends, and my colleague, Akintoba Fatigun, who was already weeping after seeing how helpless I was, to stay strong.”

Aishat Odunayo Olaniyonu, wife of Yusuph Olaniyonu, former special adviser on media and publicity to Bukola Saraki, ex-senate president, is dead. She was 52.

The cause of the death was not immediately known, but a media source said Odunayo passed away morning of Tuesday October 14, 2025 after she went into the bathroom to wash her hair and did not come out.

In a statement issued by Oladapo Olaniyonu, her son, the family expressed profound sorrow over the loss.

“With total submission to the will of Almighty Allah, we announce the passing of our beloved mother, wife, and sister, Aishat Odunayo Olaniyonu. We say Alhamdulillah for a life well lived,” the statement said.

Odunayo is survived by her husband; children – Oladapo, Oladipo, and Oladepo; elderly mother; and siblings.

She will be buried at the Muslim Cemetery, Adigbe, Abeokuta, on Wednesday October 15, 2025 by 4pm.

In August 2024, Olaniyonu shared how Odunayo supported him while he battled prostate cancer for five months, particularly during his surgery.

He said after an initial operation was abruptly halted due to a ruptured bladder in February, the surgeons hastily inserted a catheter that was improperly positioned, preventing urine from draining correctly.

Olaniyonu said the medical team privately informed the family that his chances of survival were about 50-50 and appeared ready to move on to other patients, believing they had done all they could.

According to him, the late Odunayo took a decisive action and contacted Nduka Obaigbena, chairman of THISDAY and Arise TV, to alert him to his critical state and the urgent need for hospital management to provide adequate attention.

Yusuph Olaniyonu, a former editor with THISDAY, said her determination and strategic calls to influential figures were instrumental in ensuring that he received the care necessary to continue his fight.

“But then, to paraphrase Shakespeare, heaven has no fury like a woman about to be widowed. My wife, Odunayo, rose to the occasion,” he wrote in a piece on his 58th birthday,

“She thought that what was needed to save my life at that point were some ‘muscles’ that would compel the doctors to give me proper attention.

“She told my children, their friends, and my colleague, Akintoba Fatigun, who was already weeping after seeing how helpless I was, to stay strong.

“She picked up my phone and called my Oga, the Chairman of THISDAY and Arise TV, Mr Nduka Obaigbena, to inform him about my condition. All she needed were calls to people in top places on the need for the hospital management not to abandon me.

“Mr Obaigbena immediately called the Minister of Health, who in turn called the head of the hospital. He also promptly dispatched one of his top managers, Mr Israel Iwegbu, to move over to the hospital and report back to him.”