Former Nigerian Senator, Buruji Kashumu is dead

Nigerian Senator Buruji Kashamu is said to have died of Coronavirus according to multiple reports now confirmed by Senator Ben Murray Bruce.

Senator Kashamu is said to have died Saturday at the First Cardiology Consultants Hospital in Lagos, Nigeria.

He was said to have been on a life support machine for weeks at the hospital after slipping into a coma following Coronavirus complications.

Kashamu was a Nigerian politician who served as a Senator representing Ogun East in the 8th National Assembly.

Senator Kashamu was the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on States and Local Government. He then contested the Governorship of the Ogun elections during the 2019 polls along with Nigerian columnist, Mr Reuben Abati as deputy Governor.

He was a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP in Ogun State. He was appointed as the chairman, Organization and Mobilization Committee of the PDP in the South West zone of Nigeria.

In 2018, he was expelled from the People’s Democratic Party, a decision later voided by an Abuja High Court in October 2018. He was the 2019 Ogun State gubernatorial election candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party.

In 1998, Kashamu was arrested in the United Kingdom on drugs-related charges after trying to enter the country with $230,000 in cash.

He was acquitted and released in 2003. British authorities refused a US extradition request on drugs charges, citing concerns about his identity, however, Nigerian authorities announced their intention to deport him to the US on multiple occasions.#

Meanwhile, a former Presidential Spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati, says the death of former lawmaker, Senator Buruji Kashamu, makes him feel like an orphan, adding that the deceased was his political mentor.

Abati said this in a statement titled, ‘On the Death of Senator Buruji Kashamu: A Preliminary Comment by Reuben Abati’ on Saturday.

Abati, who was Kashamu’s running mate in the last governorship election in Ogun State, said the deceased taught him the basics of partisan politics.

He wrote, “I am completely heartbroken. Senator Buruji Kashamu was my political mentor. Now he is dead at the relatively young age of 62. I feel like an orphan all over again. I may have worked with the PDP government at the federal level, but he was the man who brought me into direct, partisan politics.

“He was one of the most generous men that I have ever known. He was determined to groom me and he did.  He taught me the ropes. He linked me with the grassroots. I learnt a lot from him. Senator Kashamu mentored me and others without any strings attached.#

Also, a former governor of Ogun, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun, has expressed sadness over the death of Sen. Buruji Kashamu who died in Lagos on Saturday from complications arising from COVID-19.

Amosun, who is representing Ogun Central Senatorial District, in a statement issued by his Media Assistant, Alhaji Bola Adeyemi, described Kashamu’s death as a loss to Nigeria.

“ Death, once again, has robbed us of the contributions of an enigmatic politician of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who represented Ogun East Senatorial District at the 8th Senate.

“Although we belonged to different political persuasions and disagreed on most issues, Sen. Kashamu will nonetheless be remembered for his assertive presence and uncommon doggedness in the political arena.

“He fought myriad of wars with every breadth in his soul in the defence of whatever he believed in and for his personal freedom.

“Hate him or love him, he could not be easily ignored,” Amosun said.

Amosun prayed that the Almighty Allah would forgive Kashamu’s sins and grant him eternal rest.

He expressed condolences to the nuclear and political family members of the deceased as well as to Ijebu Igbo community and Ogun as a whole. (C/R)

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