Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Aliyu Abdullahi, has mourned the demise of former Kwara South senatorial district senator, Rafiu Ibrahim.

He also sympathised with Sadiq Suleiman Umar, over the loss of his father, Suleiman Mora Omar, Makama of Kaiama Emirate in Kwara State A statement by the family said Senator Ibrahim passed yesterday during a brief illness.

Abdullahi, in a message he personally signed, condoled with the Kwara State government, the people of Kwara South district, and the Ojoku community in Oyun Local Government Area. He said he was saddened by news of the death of a former colleague with whom he had a healthy and productive working relationship.

He recalled that he and the late senator were freshmen senators in the eighth National Assembly from 2015 to 2019, during which period, Ibrahim served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, and was a member of the Media and Public Affairs Committee under his chairmanship.

The minister described Ibrahim as a friend, brother, confidant, and reliable sounding board with whom he shared common views on the welfare of citizens and progress of the nation.

He added that the deceased was an embodiment of passion, selflessness, hard working and a truly distinguished gentleman whose persona radiated confidence and a ready willingness to co-operate in achieving the common good.

He also recalled with fondness that Ibrahim joined him in solidarity at the launch of a constituency project in his (Sabi’s) Niger North senatorial district, and willingly stood in for the Senate president on the occasion, when the chairman of the National Assembly could not arrive early enough due to weather constraints.

He prayed to Almighty Allah to forgive his shortcomings and to grant his soul aljannah firdaus. He equally urged members of the family of the deceased to be consoled by the remarkable accomplishments of the late senator who has passed on at the age of 57.

While commisserating with Umar, his erstwhile colleague in the ninth Senate, he said his common Borgu lineage with Sadiq means that the transition of the Makama is a loss to the larger Borgu Clan.

The minister noted that the legacies of exemplary service of the late Makama as an administrator and traditional ruler should be sources of comfort to the family.