Buhari: My last encounter with Senator Wakili

President Muhammadu Buhari recalled yesterday that he was with the late Senator Ali Wakili (Bauchi South) barely 24 hours before he slumped and died in Abuja Saturday.

Buhari, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said he and Wakili were together in Kano at the wedding of Aliko Dangote’s daughter on Friday.

President Buhari narrated: “He (Senator Wakili) looked so full of life.”

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

Shehu said after sending a condolence message and personal telephone calls to the bereaved wives, Buhari on Sunday sent a government delegation to Bauchi to commiserate with the people of the state and the family of the late senator.

The delegation led by the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu; comprised the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari; the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Musa Bello and the Minister of State Power, Works and Housing, Alhaji Sulaiman Hassan.

Also on the delegation were three Senior Special Assistants to the President: Sarki Abba, Ya’u Darazo and Garba Shehu as well as the Permanent Secretary House, Mr Jalal Arabi.

In separate letters delivered to the Emir of Bauchi, Alhaji Rilwan Adamu and the older brother of the late senator, Alhaji Mohammed Wakili, Buhari 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 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,” Buhari said. in the State