President Buhari Sends Condolence To Wakili’s Family

The President, Muhammadu Buhari sent a government delegation to Bauchi State to commiserate with the people of the state and the family of the late Senator representing Bauchi South, Ali Wakili on Sunday, who died on Saturday.

According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, this was after the President had sent a condolence message and made telephone calls to the widows of the late senator who has been described as one of Buhari’s “staunch” supporters.

Shehu said the delegation, which was led the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, was made up of the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari; the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello; and the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Sulaiman Hassan.

Others in the delegation were three Senior Special Assistants to the President — Sarki Abba, Ya’u Darazo and Shehu, as well as the Permanent Secretary in the State House, Jalal Arabi.

In separate letters delivered to the Emir of Bauchi, Rilwan Adamu; and the older brother of the late senator, Mohammed Wakili, the President said he received the news of the Senator’s sudden death with “great shock and sadness.”

“By a common consent, Senator Ali Wakili was a noted and (an) indefatigable member of the Senate who lived a simple yet purposeful life, and to the end, he played politics of commitment to a cause.

“There is no doubt he would be remembered as a capable and principled representative of his Senatorial District and the people of Nigeria,” he wrote.

The President recalled that barely 24 hours earlier, he had been with the late senator at a wedding in Kano and, as he narrated, “he (Senator Wakili) looked so full of life.”

He then prayed for the repose of the deceased, saying “I pray to God to forgive him and cover him with his mercy and grace.”