Senate President Godswill Akpabio has paid tribute to the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
He recently described Buhari as a man of discipline and integrity who left a lasting imprint on Nigeria’s leadership.
Speaking during the special session of the Expanded Federal Executive Council meeting held in Buhari’s honour, Akpabio revealed that while PMB wasn’t perfect, he stood firmly for discipline, honour and patriotism.
According to him, the former president didn’t just pass through the corridors of power; he left his boots and imprints in Nigeria’s political history.
He stated that while other politicians concentrated on chasing the headlines, Buhari chose to chase honour instead.
“President Buhari did not merely pass through the corridors of power. He left his boots and his imprints in them. Buhari was not perfect. No leader is. But he was principled. He stood for something.
In a world where it is easy to chase headlines, he chose instead to chase honour. Where others sought glory, he sought duty,” he said.
Akpabio further noted that Buhari was an unflamboyant leader who was more driven by a deep sense of patriotism.
He concluded by saying that Nigeria will always remember PMB to be a man who believed in discipline and integrity.
“As a minister in his cabinet, appointed by him, I saw President Buhari unplugged. He was not flamboyant—far from it. His voice was measured. His steps, deliberate. His public demeanour, austere.
But beneath that calm exterior beat the heart of a patriot—unyielding, unbending, and utterly uninterested in personal comfort when duty called.
He believed that discipline mattered. That integrity mattered. That leadership, even when lonely, must be anchored in something greater than power.
Let us be honest—he was tough. He was a soldier who did not flinch under fire, a leader who did not flee from responsibility, and above all, a Nigerian whose loyalty to this nation was never up for sale.
And yes, some disagreed with him. That is the nature of democracy. But even his fiercest critics will admit: he did not pilfer the nation’s purse, nor pander to its pleasures. He remained, to the very end, a sentinel of Spartan simplicity and austere integrity.
Let it be said by generations to come, that a man once walked this land with a firm gait, a steady gaze, and an iron sense of duty. His name was Muhammadu Buhari,” he added.
