An uneasy calm has been reported in Kogi State following the unexpedtec death, yesterday afternoon, of political strongman, Prince Abubakar Audu, at the peak of the realisation of his ambition to return to Lugard House for the third tme as governor of the state.

Prince Audu, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was the main challenger to incumbent Governor Idris Wada in last Saturday’s governorship election in the state. He was leading in the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commissione (INEC), scoring 240,867 votes as against the 199,514 votes garnered by Governor Wada, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). News of his death, reportedly of a heart attack, filtered in shortly after INEC declared the election inconclusive on the grounds that invalidated votes were more than Audu’s margin of victory.

Governor Wada this morning declared seven days of mourning for the former governor ahead of his burial scheduled for 9:00 a.m. in accordance with Islamic injunctions. Wada in a state broadcast described Audu’s death as shocking, saying that he would ever be remembered for his developmental strides in the state during his six years rule. He described the late political titan as a great citizen of Nigerian who contributed immensely to the socio-economic and political development of Kogi State.

Goernor Wada extended the condolences of of the state to the Audu family. He explained that that there will be skeletal government activities during the seven days mourning period for the departed political strongman.

•Photo shows late Prince Abubakar Audu.