The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, PhD has expressed shock over the death of the first civilian governor of Yobe State, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim.
Governor Mai Mala Buni, on Sunday, confirmed the death of the ex-governor aged 75 in Saudi Arabia where he was undergoing treatment.
The Speaker described the death as painful, lamenting the vacuum Senator Ibrahim’s demise would create in not just Yobe and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), but also the entire country.
“The death of Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim is shocking and painful. He excelled as the governor of Yobe State and as a member of the Senate. He was an experienced politician – one of the few who have been lucky to serve the country in both the Executive and the Legislature, at the state and federal levels.
“I commiserate with his family, especially his wife, Hon. Khadijat Bukar Abba-Ibrahim, who is serving as a member of the 10th House of Representatives. I also extend my condolences to the people and government of Yobe State for this huge and irreparable loss,” Speaker Abba said in his condolence message.
The Speaker prayed Allah to grant Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim Jannatul Firdaus as his body would be buried in Saudi Arabia.
Senator Ibrahim was Governor of Yobe State in the defunct Third Republic – from January 1992 to November 1993. In the Fourth Republic, he was governor of the state again for two terms – from 1999 to 2007. In 2007, he represented Yobe East Senatorial District, where he was till the 8th Assembly which ended in 2019.
His wife, Hon. Khadijat Bukar Abba-Ibrahim has been in the House since 2007, representing Damaturu/Gujba/Gulani/Tarmuwa Federal Constituency in Yobe State. She was serving her fourth term in 2016 when President Muhammadu Buhari appointed her Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. On January 9, 2019, she resigned from the Federal Executive Council to contest for a fresh fourth term in the House and won.