Former Chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Chief Gabriel Aduku, has passed on at 80 years of age. In a related development, Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has expressed deep pain over the demise of All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Sen Abubakar Sodangi. Aduku reportedly died on Sunday in the United States of America (U.S.A.) while battling an undisclosed illness.
   
According to a source close to the family, the former Minister of State for Health under Umaru Yar’Adua’s regime left Nigeria before his 80th birthday, which he celebrated on February 3, 2024, with some members of the family in America.
  
A traditional title holder of Amana Ogohi Atta Igala, Aduku, regarded as a great leader that meant well for his people, had also made indelible marks on the national and international scenes, professionally and politically; notably, he designed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) logo.
  
He was President of the Nigeria Institute of Architects (NIA), Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) as well as Chairman, Board of Trustees.
 
Aduku was also, among others, a member of the International Union of Architects and the Royal Institute of British Architects.  He chaired the National Constitutional Conference Committee on the Niger Delta, which championed the 13 per cent derivation formula in the Constitution.
  
Sodangi, who represented Nasarawa West in the upper chamber of the National Assembly for 12 years, died on Sunday at 70 years of age.
  
Governor Sule stated, yesterday: “My heart is burdened, and I am deeply saddened by the news of the passing of my brother and chairman of my campaign council before the 2019 primaries and during the 2023 gubernatorial election.
  
“The Dan Malikin Nasarawa, who passed on Sunday night, only hours after I was in the hospital to see him, was not just an elder brother and political associate, but a confidant, a lover of peace and harmony among his people and community.” Sule lamented that APC in the state shall miss his advice and love for Nasarawa State and humanity in general.