President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday led the nation in mourning Bashir Tofa, a politician who the president has described as a “true nationalist”.
The late presidential candidate, who ran ‘in a two-horse race’, was also described by President Buhari as a promoter of Islamic culture and civilization.
According to the president, Tofa was noted for his untiring commitment to public enlightenment and was unafraid to speak the truth all the time that he lived.
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“He set up the Bureau for Islamic Propagation, BIP in the mid-80s that helped to unite Muslim scholars in the Northern states, narrowing the differences that characterized their relationships.
“The BIP also published books and newspapers,” the president added.
In a tribute to the deceased, President Buhari said the late Tofa was a true nationalist that would be difficult to replace.
“He was, till the end, a patriot to the core. He envisaged a better Nigeria for all. We pray that this dream and collective aspiration and necessary commitment will not go with him.
“We owe it to his memory and to the nation,” Femi Adesina, the president’s special media aide, quoted his principal as saying.
President Buhari prayed to Allah to repose his soul and grant fortitude to the bereaved family and friends, the Kano Emirate Council as well as the government and people of Kano State to bear the loss.
Meanwhile, the President has dispatched a delegation to Kano with a condolence letter to the State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The team is made up of the Ministers of Defence, Major-General Bashir Magashi (Rtd), and his Water Resources counterpart, Engineer Sulaiman Adamu accompanied by the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity), Garba Shehu, and the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris.
