Yar’Adua was a futuristic leader, Atiku praises late president

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has described late President Umaru Yar’Adua as a futuristic and visionary leader who brought peace to the troubled Niger Delta region.

Atiku praised the late president, who died in office in 2010 in a statement he issued on Sunday to commemorate the 9th-year anniversary of his demise, describing him further as a decent man and a man of peace.

Atiku said: “The late President Yar’Adua was a man I was closely connected to. First, because his late brother, the great Tafida of Katsina, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, was my political mentor, who taught both Umaru and me the ropes of politics.

“Obviously, with Umaru, the apple did not fall far from the tree. And secondly, because we worked very, very closely when he was the governor of Katsina State at the time I was Vice-President to our leader, President Olusegun Obasanjo.

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“In this period where Nigeria is facing almost unprecedented violence and insecurity, the world will remember that it was President Yar’Adua who bequeathed peace to the Niger Delta through his futuristic and visionary amnesty and rehabilitation programme.”

According to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2019 general elections, late President Yar’Adua’s action saw an unprecedented improvement in the performance of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry which led to record-breaking five per cent Gross Domestic Product growth.

He also said the late Yar’Adua was an advocate and proponent of the rule of law and the doctrine of separation of powers, adding that it was only his administration that did not suffer from executive-legislative tensions in the Fourth Republic.

“I am proud of what he achieved and the fact that such a decent leader was produced by my political family (the Yar’Adua political family) and my political party (the Peoples Democratic Party).

“May the Almighty Allah continue to shine His Light on the face of our late dear President Umaru Yar’Adua as we mark nine years of his passing and may Allah grant him al-Jannah Firdaus.

“I also pray that God will continue to bless the family he left behind. A grateful nation appreciates the labour of its beloved son almost a decade after his passing”, Atiku said.

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