Buhari, Atiku mourn Chukwumerije

“As a politician, he was very classy and as a statesman he was exceptional. His death came as a rude shock and I do sincerely pray that God grants his family, the people of Abia State, friends and colleagues at the National Assembly the fortitude to bear the loss.”
President-elect Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar yesterday condoled with the family of the late Senator Uche Chukwumerije.
In a statement by the Director, Media and Publicity of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Mallam Garba Shehu, Gen. Buhari said the late senator was a Pan-African par excellence.
“As a man of my own generation, I observed the progressive political activities of Uche Chukwumerije and admired the Pan-African interests and national patriotic zeal which dominated and dictated major part of his actions and pursuits,’’ Gen. Buhari said.
He recalled that in the Second Republic, Chukwumerije parted ways with the ethnic and regional politics of that era to identify with Mallam Aminu Kano, the leader of the masses (Talakawas) and this “marked him out as a worker for national unity and a man of noble values”.
He added: “As a media practitioner, Chukwumerije was a professional who did his job with passion and conviction in all positions he held. I was not surprised he was a leading voice in the Senate for twelve years, where he had been serving the Federal Republic till death came calling.”
Gen. Buhari said the late  Chukwumerije lived an active life and never sat on the fence on any national issues, adding: “Senator Chukwumerije has played an exceptional role in the business of legislation in the country and we will all dearly miss him as an outstanding politician and an elder statesman.
“I sincerely condole with his family and friends, especially his constituents in Abia North senatorial district, the people of Abia State and members of the National Assembly,” Buhari said.
Atiku, in a statement from his Media office in Abuja, said the news of Chukwumerije’s death came to him as a rude shock.
Atiku said: “Senator Chukwumerije was in the class of those gentlemen you cannot but notice his outstanding qualities even when he stood in the midst of other men.
“His mannerism came across as someone who was well cultured. He was very sartorial in style and in presentation; and he never confused you about the disciplined background of his origin. He was a very worthy ambassador of his people.
“As a politician, he was very classy and as a statesman he was exceptional. His death came as a rude shock and I do sincerely pray that God grants his family, the people of Abia State, friends and colleagues at the National Assembly the fortitude to bear the loss.”