Habiba Ibrahim-Sam
BENIN CITY
Edo State Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu, has joined the football world to mourn the passing of FIFA – graded Nigerian Referee, Festus Bolaji Okubule, alias ‘Show Boy’.
In a condolence message to the deceased family and personally signed, Shaibu described the late Okubule as “an international referee who scored many firsts in the history of Nigerian football”.
The Deputy Governor went further to say that:
“It is on record that he was the first FIFA – badge Referee in Nigeria; first Nigerian Referee to officiate at both the Nations and World Cup, as well as a former National President of the Nigerian Referee Association ( NRA).
” Let me commiserate with his immediate family, the Nigerian Football Association, the Nigerian Referee Association and indeed, the football world for this irreparable loss. May his gentle soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through Christ Jesus rest in perfect peace”
According to the Deputy Governor, his daughter, Sola Taiwo, confirmed the death of the foremost Nigerian Referee Tuesday, at the ripe age of 80 in a Lagos hospital.
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