Why I am Filled with Pain, Regret, Ex-vice President Atiku Opens up

• Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has gone down memory lane to when Nigeria was transiting from a military regime to a democratic government
• Atiku recalled those early days of Nigeria's democracy as he mourned the death of former Senate deputy president, Ibrahim Nasiru Mantu
• The former presidential candidate noted that the late former lawmaker was one of those who worked for the nation's stability in its fourth republic

The death of a former deputy Senate president, Senator Ibrahim Nasiru Mantu, has caused sadness to many Nigerians, especially those from political circles.

One prominent citizen who has expressed deep pain and sadness is Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president, who admitted shock over Mantu's demise, PM News reports.

Atiku on Tuesday, August 17, recalled his association with the former senator while he was in the defunct Social Democratic Party (SDP) when the former was a leading political pillar in the then Nigeria Republican Convention (NRC).

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According to the former presidential candidate, Mantu worked with other politicians to stabilise the emergent democracy during the first tenure of the fourth Republic, Daily Nigerian also reported.

His words:

“Mantu was very central in the management of the frosty relationship between the executive and the legislature in those difficult years of learning the nuances of democratic practice.”

He pointed at Mantu's tenacity as one of the rare qualities that launched him from his humble beginnings to a status of statesmanship.

Ex-deputy Senate president, Ibrahim Mantu, is Dead

Meanwhile, Mantu was said to have died at the Diff hospital in Abuja. Mantu died at about 2am on Tuesday, August 17, after nine days of sickness and isolation according to a family source who spoke with journalists.

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He reportedly fell ill about nine days ago and was receiving treatment at home and he was rushed to the hospital when there was no sign of improvement.

Mantu hailsd from Gindiri district in Mangu local government area of Plateau state. In 2001 he was elected Deputy Senate President under the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), a position he held till 2007 when he did not return to the senate.

Source: Legit.ng