By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja
The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has expressed shock and sadness over the passing away of Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, a former Minister and National Chairman of the PDP.
Atiku said this in a statement at the weekend by his Media Adviser, Mr Paul Ibe.
The presidential candidate, expressed worry that with Ogbulafor’s death, the PDP in particular and the nation in general, have been robbed of his immense experience and statesmanship which would have aided “our pursuit for peace and reconciliation among the members of our great party as we head towards another Presidential elections.
According to Atiku,
“Vincent Ogbulafor was my friend and colleague from the early days of our great party, the PDP; a platform with which we won the presidential election of 1999 and 2003 and formed the federal cabinet from 1999 to 2003; a government in which we worked together to reform Nigeria’s economy after many years of military plundering. “As a minister of State of the Federal Republic, he contributed his quote with open mind in the economic reforms process that we embarked on”, Atiku said.
The Wazirin Adamawa remembered him as a cool and level-headed individual with a pan-Nigerian outlook to politics and life.
According to Atiku, “these attributes made the stakeholders of the PDP to trust him (Ogbulafor) to play the stabilizing role in the party at its challenging times when he was given the responsibility of being the National Secretary; a position that he handled to the best of his ability thus leading to his elevation as the National Chairman of the party.
‘‘Our party and country owe Vincent a lot for his services, and I am worried by his death because it has robbed us of his immense experience and statesmanship which would have aided our pursuit for peace and reconciliation among the members of our great party as we head towards another Presidential elections in 2023”, the former Vice President added”, he said.
Atiku expressed his deepest condolences to the Ogbulafor family of Umuahia, the government and people of Abia State and the PDP on the loss.
He prays to Almighty God to forgive him his sins, receive his soul and console his family and the friends and associates he has left behind.
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