Kogi State in Nigeria’s central region is in mourning, as a former governor and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the November 21 election, Mr Abubakar Audu, is laid to rest.
Mr Audu was buried on Monday in his country home, Ogbonicha in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State.
The Governor of the State, Captain Idris Wada, had earlier declared a three-day mourning to honour the late former Governor.
The burial of the Mr Audu, who was leading in the election that was declared inconclusive, attracted scores of dignitaries from home and broad’
Huge crowd of sympathisers besieged the residence of the late politician on Monday, a day after his death , to witness his burial.
Among the dignitaries were the former Governor of Kano State Mr Aminu Kwankwaso, former Governor of Edo State Mr Lucky Igbenedion, APC’s serving Senators and members of the House of Representatives among others.
To the people at the burial they have lost a great gem.
Prayers For Resurrection
While preparations for his burial rites were being made, an interesting twist played out.
A lady prophetess came seeking to pray for Audu’s corps, with an aim of bringing him back to life.
Securities and members of the family objected to her request, but angry youths forced the door open for her to gain access in and perform the miracle.
The crowd joined in the fervent prayers for the resurrection of Mr Audu, with Holy Ghost Fire mentioned several times, while Muslims around chanted prayers also for his resurrection.
While the crowd was largely engaged in fervent prayers, others were weeping loudly by the door.
Minutes later there was an uproar of jubilation, as news filtered in that he had risen. The jubilation continued, while some claimed they had seen him.
At about 1:30pm the truth about the claims of his resurrection became obvious, as he was lowered down into the grave, with everyone trying to catch a glimpse of the event.
On Sunday, news of Mr Audu’s death filtered in after the elections had been declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
The declaration of mourning by the Governor was conveyed in a statement by the Secretary to the State Government, Professor Adegbemiro Jegede, on Monday morning.
Governor Wada described Prince Audu as a great citizen of Nigeria, who had contributed immensely to the socio-economic and political development of Kogi State.
He also commiserated with the family of Prince Audu who has been buried in his home town in Ofu Local Government Area.
This is the first time in the history of the country that a leading governorship candidate will be announced dead just before the final verdict on the contest.
Chief Abubakar Audu was leading in the results announced by INEC, scoring 240,867 votes while Governor Wada of the PDP polled 199,514 votes.
Mr Audu is reported to have died of undisclosed medical reasons.
