President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Tuesday, said that the late Sen. Ignatius Longjang, until his death, was a peaceful man and bridge builder committed to the Nigerian project.
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A statement issued by Lawan’s Special Adviser on Media, Ola Awoniyi, said the senate president paid glowing tribute to Longjang when he led a high-powered delegation of the senate on a condolence visit to the late senator’s family in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other principal officers on the delegation included the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Sabi Abdullahi and Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Philip Aduda.
NAN also reports that Lawan, who was out of Abuja when the incident occurred, upon his return, headed straight to the Abuja home of the late Senator where other senators were already waiting for him.
Lawan, on behalf of the senate, commiserated with the wife of the late senator, Mrs Maureen Longjang, his daughter, Mikang Longjang and other family members.
“The late Longjang was a peacemaker and a very peaceful person. He proved himself to be a very faithful and loyal person. He was committed to the ideals of the senate.
“He built bridges. He was committed to ensuring that everything went on well. As one of our elders in the senate, he was highly regarded and respected. His demise is a loss to all of us.
“Our late colleague was someone who believed that as a people, we must live in peace; he was a very peaceful man.
“And having served as a deputy governor once and coming to the senate after his ambassadorial tours, he was an accomplished leader in his own right. What particularly endeared him to me was his sense of commitment to the Nigerian project.
“We know that from time to time, we have disagreements across the country but he would always preach that we must live in peace, create understanding and that there should be fairness, equity and justice in all parts of the country; he lived and died for that.
“For us in the senate, this is one lesson we must take away; we have to ensure that we stick to it.
“That whatever we do as a senate, we should do so to ensure that every citizen is protected, gets fairness, equity and justice, and at the end of the day, just like he wished, this country must prosper,” Lawan said.
The senate president assured the family members that the upper legislative chamber would be with them during this period of grief.
“We are going to be together. We are going to have the two senators from Plateau working with the family very closely so that we can participate and support the arrangement for his interment,” Lawan said.