President Muhammadu Buhari has described the death of Senator Saidu Umar Kumo as “a major loss to the ruling APC”, saying that “he was our pillar of strength in Gombe State whose defection in 2019 had energized our supporters for change.”
In a condolence message in Abuja on Sunday, the President said:
“I have received the news of the death of Senator Kumo with profound shock and sadness because his contributions to the growth of our party cannot be forgotten.
“Let me put it on record that the history of victory in 2019 cannot be written without reckoning with the significant contributions of the late Senator Saidu Umar Kumo who had brought his enormous political goodwill into our efforts to retain power.”
President Buhari also mourned the death of Madawakin Keffi, Abubakar Senior, a distinguished civil servant and the second in command in the Keffi Emirate Council.
The President prayed to Allah to forgive the souls of Kumo and Senior, reward their good deeds with aljanna, and grant fortitude to their families, friends, associates, the governments and people of Gombe and Nasarawa States to bear the losses.