The Coalition of Northern Groups has expressed deep sorrow over the death of Kano State elder statesman and one-time presidential candidate, Alhaji Bashir Tofa, describing him as a great statesman and mentor.
In a condolence message issued by its spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, CNG said it owed immeasurable gratitude to the late Bashir Tofa whose leadership, sacrifice, statesmanship, patriotism and unwavering commitment to the interests of the people of Northern Nigeria, and citizens of Nigeria as a whole had few parallels.
“We mourn the passing of this great man from whose life and works we have drawn inspiration and we must strive, in all we do, to live by the personal and social values and standards he lived and set for himself,” he said.
The late Tofa, Suleiman said, was a passionate believer of the organic links between generations who was always available for young people.
“The North certainly lost a great statesman, but the youth lost a mentor, a guardian, a living history and an embodiment of all the exemplary qualities young Northerners should strive to achieve.
“We pray the Almighty Allah to overlook his shortcomings, forgive his gentle soul, admit him to Jannah and grant his family the fortitude to bear the loss,” Suleiman said.
Tofa, a former presidential candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) in the 1993 aborted Third Republic died on Monday morning at the age of 93 years.
The deceased was MKO Abiola’s major challenger in the controversial June 12, 1993, presidential election, annulled by the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida.
Abiola, the Social Democratic Party candidate, was leading Tofa by a wide margin but the exercise was stopped ahead of the final announcement of results.
The annullment of the election threw the country into chaos as protesters hit the streets, calling on Babangida to step down.
Abiola was later arrested by the regime of Abacha and he died in detention.
