President Muhammadu Buhari has met with members of the bereaved family of late Sen. Abba Ali, his friend and decades-long associate, to share their common loss of ”a man who diligently served Nigeria.”

Garba Shehu, the President’s spokesman, in a statement, said the family members, including the children of the deceased, were led to the President by the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency, Amb. Ahmed Rufa’i, on Friday in Daura, Katsina State.

In a tribute, the president described the death of the elder statesman as an irreparable loss of an irreplaceable friend whom he said had “a warm personality and affable manners that won him a lot of respect and admiration. Words are of little solace at this time.”

The family members, who spoke through Alhaji Usman, Tarnon Katsina, said they were all aware of the social and emotional bonds between the president and their late father.

They thanked him for his support to the deceased following the tragic accident, and the family, after he passed on.

They also prayed for peaceful elections in the country and a safe return home for the President after successful completion of his second term.