President Bola Tinubu has described the sudden death of Professor Abdullahi Muhammed Shinkafi as a shock and loss to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the entire country.
Tinubu, through the former chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Finance, Hon James Abiodun Faleke, who led a delegation to the family of the deceased on behalf of the president yesterday, said Professor Shinkafi was a committed party man and was always willing to assist.
Faleke said Tinubu’s administration would continue to support the family the professor left behind.
Shinkafi was a party stalwart, an Islamic scholar of international repute and academician par excellence.
He said: “We grieve with the family of the dead prof, we urge the family to take heart. We are here on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. We thank God that you and the wives are professors and you have careers. We are ready to assist the family in any way”.
Former chief of staff to the Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, Hon. Sanusi Garba Rikiji who was a close friend of the late professor and part of the delegation said he had called the late professor two hours before his death.
He said: “The loss of Professor Shinkafi is a great loss to the entire country. The professor was a man that navigated not only the academia but also the political environment of this country.
“He was a true supporter and a believer of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. And he has served as a zonal coordinator in charge of the South West. He led the very first Tinubu support group that was formed about two and half years ago. So, we miss him. We pray that the Almighty Allah forgive all his sins.”
One of the wives of the deceased who is also a professor, Bilikisu Aminu Shinkafi, said: “We thank you very much for the visit and we are not taking this visit for granted. This visit shows that you people are with us in this time of grief”.
The first son of the late professor, Abdulbasir Shinkafi, said: “All I can say is that my father was a nice man. I miss him. He was a great man. I will miss everything about him”.
