▪︎It’s a personal loss to me, says Gbajabiamila
The House of Representatives suspended its plenary on Tuesday in honour of a lawmaker, Rep. Yuguda Hassan Kila, who died on March 4.
Kila, who was the Chairman of the House Committee on Customs, came to the House in 2015.
He died at the age of 71 years after a brief illness.
In keeping with tradition, the Speaker, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, suspended sitting on Tuesday to allow members to mourn their colleague after offering prayers for the repose of Kila’s soul.
Speaking at a brief session before the plenary was suspended, Gbajabiamila recalled Kila’s times in the House, describing him as “a perfect gentleman”, who would be sorely missed.
The speaker said Kila’s loss was a personal one to him because he had spent quality legislative time with the deceased since 2015.
He said, “There will be no sitting today. It is with very deep regrets and a heavy heart, that I officially announce the death of our very own, Hon. Yuguda Hassan Kila.”
He added, “He was a perfect gentleman. It’s a painful loss to me personally because we had been together since 2015.”
Gbajabiamila informed members that he spoke with Kila before he passed on, stating that the hope of his recovery to rejoin his colleagues was very high before his death came as a shock.
“Our condolences to his family and the people of Jigawa State, and to us the House of Representatives as a family.
“He was loved by all as a gentleman. We will greatly miss him”, the speaker further said.
Leader of the Jigawa State Caucus and Chairman, Committee on Rules/Business, Rep. Abubakar Hassan Fulata, also spoke glowingly of the personality of Kila.
He disclosed that Kila was not just the eldest member of the caucus, but was also humble and never looked for trouble.
“He was always concerned about what affected others.
Engineer Magaji was the closest person to him…He was an honourable man, a man of courage and a man of peace.
May Allah accept all his good deeds and forgive his shortcomings”, Fulata said.
The Deputy Chairman of the committee Kila headed, Rep. Leke Babajide, described him as an exceptionally calm lawmaker.
Babajide recalled how they never had any misunderstandings the short time they worked together on the committee. He said Kila fully handed over the affairs of the committee to him immediately he took ill.
“The short time we worked together, we worked well. We worked as a family.
“Today, it’s like I lost a father and as we say, we can’t question God.
“The day he died was the day he was to have a meeting with the customs at the National Assembly.
“We were at that budget defence meeting when the sad news came that he died,” he added.
Members later said prayers for the repose of his soul and the speaker adjourned plenary till Wednesday, March 10.
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