The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, Ph.D, has described the demise of a former senator and an ex-minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Bello Maitama Yusuf, as a great loss.
Speaker Abbas said the former senator from Jigawa State was an elder statesman whose service to the nation and humanity was worthy of emulation.
In a press statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Musa Abdullahi Krishi, the Speaker said the late elder statesman would be sorely missed.
He commiserated with the family of the late Bello Maitama Yusuf, the people and government of Jigawa State over the loss.
The Jigawa State-born Yusuf was a member of the Federal Executive Council in different capacities under President Shehu Shagari in the defunct Second Republic. He was Minister of Social Welfare, Youth, Sports and Culture in September 1981, and later Minister of Commerce.
He was a member of the Senate for two terms, between 1999 and 2007, where he represented Jigawa South West Senatorial District.
The Speaker noted that as a former minister and an ex-lawmaker, Senator Yusuf contributed immensely to the development of Nigeria.
Speaker Abbas prayed to Allah to grant Senator Yusuf Jannatul Firdaus and give his family the fortitude to bear the loss.