• Says govt’ll immortalise elder statesman
Deji Elumoye in Abuja
Vice President Kashim Shettima, yesterday, led mourners at the Janai’za (funeral rites) of former Minister of Finance and Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji.
The elder statesman passed on earlier in the day at the age of 88 after a brief illness.
He had served as Minister of National Planning, and later Finance during the military administration of General Ibrahim Babangida.
On arrival in Sokoto, the vice president, according to a release issued by his media aide, Stanley Nkwocha, paid a condolence visit to the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, where prayers were offered for the peaceful repose of the late elder statesman.
Shettima described the deceased as a behemoth of institutional memory who will never be forgotten, stating that the late Alhaji would be remembered for his service to the country.
He also stated that the federal government would immortalise the elder statesman.
The vice president prayed Almighty Allah to grant the deceased eternal rest and give the family the fortitude to bear the loss.
The late Alhaji had also served as Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, after leaving the finance ministry, until 1996.
He began serving Nigeria in 1964 as an Assistant Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, before ascending to the position of Permanent Secretary in the then Federal Ministry of Trade.
On the vice president’s entourage were Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia; Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu; his labour counterpart, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi; Special Adviser to the President on Special Duties (Office of the Vice President), Dr Aliyu Modibbo; among others.