President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday sent a high-level presidential delegation to Kano to console Vice President Kashim Shettima, on the recent loss of his mother-in-law, Hajiya Maryam Albishir.
On arrival in Kano, the delegation led by Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, was received by the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf.
Spokesman of the Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, who revealed this in a statement, said members of the delegation included Minister for Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu; Minister for Transport, Senator Sa’idu Ahmed Alkali; Minister of State for Housing and Urban Development, Alhaji Abdullahi Tijani Muhammad Gwarzo; Special Adviser on General Duties, Dr Aliyu Moddibo, and Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (North West), Abdullahi Yakasai.
Delivering the President’s condolence message to the VP, Gbajabiamila said “President Tinubu feels saddened about the passing of Senator Shettima’s mother-in-law and sent his deepest sympathy and prayers.”
The Chief of Staff added: “The President has sent us to commiserate with you and your family. He sends his best wishes, his prayers, and his thoughts to you and your wife and the entire family of the deceased.
“Mr President has asked that we convey to you his deepest sympathy and his prayers that the Almighty Allah grant our mother Aljannah Firdaus and forgive her sins.
“It’s indeed saddening that she died. We commiserate with you on behalf of Mr President, on behalf of the government and behalf of his cabinet and the whole federal government of Nigeria.”
Responding, VP Shettima expressed his deep gratitude, saying, “I want to register my sincere gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for sending such a high-level delegation to condole with us over the sad demise of our mother. That portrays the purity of heart and empathy of the President.”
The Vice President reiterated the President’s genuine leadership, maintaining that President Bola Tinubu means well for the nation.
The VP further expressed what he described as his profound gratitude to the government and people of Kano State for hosting him and members of his family.
“Everyone that has come here is welcomed by the Governor. We have gone beyond politics. We are now in the phase of governance and what binds us together triumphs whatever that divides us,” he added.
Visitors who came to sympathize with the Vice President and his family include the Governor of Katsina State, Dr Dikko Umar Radda; Deputy Governor of Taraba State, Aminu Abdullahi Alkali; Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Zephaniah Bitrus Jisalo; Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, and former Governor of Katsina State, Ibrahim Shema, among others.
