Buhari mourns late APC chieftain, Kemi Nelson

*Congratulate Osun PDP gubernatorial candidate

President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled with the Nelson’s family over the death of a front line politician and advocate of the womenfolk, Chief Kemi Nelson.

The president, in a statement on Sunday by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, also sent condolences to the government and people of Lagos State, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Lagos APC family over the loss.

President Buhari, in the condolence message on behalf of himself and his wife, Aisha, described the deceased as “a consistent and faithful party member who devoted so much to the evolution, development, sustenance and relevance of the party in Lagos and around the country.”

The president, who noted the contributions of Chief Nelson as former Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation in Lagos State, the State Women Leader, National Deputy Women Leader of APC, and former Executive Director of the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund, said she was such a grassroots mobiliser and an achiever who left her footprints wherever she served.

“As the only female member of the Lagos State Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), Kemi Nelson continued to be part of the governance structure that led to the transformation of Lagos State into the Centre of Excellence it has become,” Buhari said.

Meanwhile, the President has also congratulated Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), following the victory of the party in Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Osun.

The president’s congratulatory message is contained in a statement by his spokesman, Femi Adesina, on Sunday in Abuja.

The president expressed conviction that with the election over, the people of Osun had expressed their will through the ballot, and the will of the people must always matter and be respected in a democracy.

According to him, the successful conduct of the election is a further testimony to the maturity and commitment of all stakeholders – the electoral body, security agencies, political parties, the media, civil society and the electorate – to further strengthen the integrity of the electoral process in the country.

Mr Buhari reassured the nation that the commitment of this administration ”toward having credible elections remains unshaken.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the INEC returning officer for the Osun gubernatorial election, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, on Sunday morning declared Mr. Adeleke of the PDP, the winner of the Osun governorship election, held on July 16.