Activities In Aso Villa Shift To Sambo’s House

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Activities In Aso Villa Shift To Sambo’s House

By Our Correspondents

— April 29, 2014

The Aguda House residence of vice president Namadi Sambo in Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, has been a beehive of activities as visitors thronged in to condole with him over the death of his younger brother, Yusuf.
Yusuf, a 58-year-old pilot died on Sunday in a ghastly autocrash on the Abuja Airport Road just when the vice president was returning from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania where he represented President Goodluck Jonathan at that country’s golden jubilee anniversary.
President Jonathan had on his arrival from his home state, Bayelsa, on Sunday paid a condolence visit to Sambo in his Akinola Aguda House official residence inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The development came just as Senate President David Mark, Speaker House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and the Northern Governors Forum, condoled with Sambo over the death of his younger brother.
The president’s wing and that of the VP looked almost deserted yesterday, as eminent Nigerians who visited the place went to the vice president’s residence to commiserate with him instead.
Sambo received male sympathisers inside one of the big halls in his house, while his wife, Hajiya Amina attended to female visitors in her own chamber.
Special prayers were offered by different groups that visited the place for the repose of the deceased’s soul and for the bereaved family.
The visitors included state governors, leaders and members of the National Assembly, members of the Federal Executive Council, leaders of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, leaders of the ongoing National Conference and security chiefs.
Among the governors who visited were Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Idris Wada (Kogi), Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), Ramalan Yero (Kaduna) and James Ngilari (deputy governor, Adamawa).
Speaking to journalists after offering his condolences, Akpabio said Yusuf’s death was a sad development for the country, even as he described the deceased as a diligent pilot who trained several younger ones.
He said, “It is unfortunate but we believe that God gives and takes. We pray that God will give the President and Vice President the fortitude to bear the loss. It is a loss to the entire nation and indeed his immediate family led by the Vice President.”
APC Condoles With Sambo
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has commiserated with vice president Namadi Sambo on the death of his younger brother in a road crash in Abuja.
A statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its interim national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, expressed shock and sadness at the death of such a vibrant personality in such a tragic circumstance.
“Death is never easy to accept, and when it is so unexpected, it adds to the grief. But the sweet memories and good deeds of the departed will always be a balm to sooth the indescribable pain of death.
“We sincerely sympathise with the vice president, the immediate family of the departed as well as his extended family. We pray that God will strengthen and comfort them all in this difficult time,’’ it said.