THE polity was awash with tributes, yesterday, for the first civilian governor of Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu, who died on Sunday. Before his death, Prince Audu, who contested last Saturday’s governorship election on the plank of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was on the verge of being elected for the third time as governor of Kogi.
He was leading his closest challenger, Governor Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, with over 40,000 votes until the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, declared the polls inclusive and said there would be supplementary elections in 59 polling units which have 49,000 registered voters.
Buhari, yesterday, expressed shock over the news of Abubakar Audu’s death, saying he was personally devastated by the sad development.
President Buhari, who is currently attending the Third Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Tehran, Iran, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, described Audu as a talented politician, a loving family head and a respected community leader.
“He was immensely courageous. President Buhari condoles with the family of the late governor, the government and people of Kogi State as well as all our party members, men and women who stood with Audu in his bid to return as governor. He ran as the favorite in the election as the early results have clearly shown.”