Bola Tinubu, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, has commiserated with the families of Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi, a former chief justice of Nigeria, and Hamman Tukur, an ex-chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, both of who died at the weekend.

Kutigi from Niger State died on Sunday, October 21, in a London Hospital at the age of 78 while Tukur from Adamawa State died on Saturday, October 20, in Kaduna at 76.

In a statement by the Tinubu Media Office on Sunday, October 21, the APC leader said Kutigi and Tukur were statesmen and distinguished Nigerians who served the country creditably in their different areas of specialisation and capacities, adding that they would be sorely missed not only by their families, home-states but also by the country at large.

Tinubu recalled the late Justice Kutigi’s onerous contributions to the country’s judicial system, to jurisprudence and to the political system.

He described Kutigi as a thorough-bred judicial officer who rose through the rank, serving as attorney-general and commissioner for Justice in Niger State until he was appointed a high court judge, serving in that office for more than a decade from where he was appointed into the Supreme Court.

The APC national leader said: “He distinguished himself as the nation’s 11th Chief Justice of Nigeria, serving from January 2007 to December 2009. I particularly recall how Justice Kutigi helped to stabilise the judiciary and starved off a judicial crisis when on the eve of his retirement from office he swore in his successor, Aloysius Iyorgyer Katsina-Alu, in the absence on health grounds of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who was constitutionally empowered to so do.”

Speaking on Tukur, the APC leader commended the former RMAFC chairman for standing firm and holding to the ideals of professionalism and transparency while in office during the time of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“Though he was appointed by President Obasanjo in 1999, Tukur refused to be cowed in the discharge of his duties and implementation of the revenue allocation formula and other issues around revenue allocation.

“He left indelible marks at RMAFC, leading the way in resolving several disputed oil wells among states in the Niger Delta region and monitoring sources of revenue from both oil and non-oil sectors, which led to important improvement in accruals to the Federation Account during the period,” he said.

Tinubu commiserated with the families of the two leaders and the governments and people of Niger and Adamawa states. He prayed that the Almighty Allah grant repose of the souls of the two leaders and wished their families the strength and courage to live on without their patriarchs.

– Oct. 22, 2018 @ 12:15 GMT