By SYLVANUS VIASHIMA, Jalingo

Senator Abdulazeez Abubakar Ibrahim, aged 67, died Tuesday night at the Federal Medical Center Jalingo after a brief illness.

Sen Ibrahim who was elected in 1999 and 2003 to represent Taraba Central senatorial district was born in May 1954.

Sen Ibrahim later contested for the governorship of the state in 2007 under the platform of the All Nigerian People’s Party but lost to the late Governor Danbaba Suntai.

In a condolence message issued in Jalingo Wednesday morning, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly Professor Joseph Albasu Kunini described the late Ibrahim as a political enigma whose death is a devastating blow to the people of the state.

Kunini said that ‘Ibrahim was one of the first senators in this current political era from Taraba state and has remained a voice to reckon with. His sudden demise at a time that the state is faced with various challenges and the government is pulling together all intellectual resources to keep the state healthily afloat is not just a loss to his immediate family but to the entire people of the state and the country at large.

‘Death is inevitable for every mortal. But the news of the death of Senator AA Ibrahim, barely five months after the death of his immediate younger sister, Senator Aisha Jummai Alhassan, is devastating and shocking.

‘We can not question God’s deed. May He grant their souls Aljannah Firdausi and the family the fortitude to bear the great loss. We shall surely miss the love and counselling of the duo.’

Senator Aisha Jumai Alhassan, the younger sister to the deceased, died barely five months ago and most people in the state are yet to recover from her sudden death. For some persons, Sen Ibrahim simply could not put up with the death of his beloved sister and has gone to be with her. (Text, excluding headline, courtesy Daily Trust)