Ahmed Gulak, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been killed by gunmen in Imo state.
Gulak’s death was announced in a statement by his classmate, Dr Umar Ado on Sunday, May 30, 2021.
According to the statement, Gulak was shot while returning to Abuja from Owerri.
The statement read: “I just confirmed the sad and gruesome death of my friend and classmate, the former Hon. Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, former Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President and former Special Adviser Political to President Goodluck Jonathan, Barr. Ahmadu Ali Gulak.
“Barr Gulak was said to have been killed last night by unknown gunmen in Owerri, Imo State.
"May Allah (SWT) forgive his sins, bless his soul and reward his good deeds with Aljannah on the Day of Resurrection.
“May Allah (SWT) also give all his children, relatives, friends and loved ones, the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss. And may Allah (SWT) bless us with faithful deaths when it is our turn to die. Ameen.
“Please let all and sundry accept my heartfelt sympathy over this personal painful experience even as I draw solace that he lived a good, helpful and productive life, well illustrated by the fact that he died while in service of his dear country.
“This is one death too many! May God Almighty save our fatherland. Ameen.”
Who is Ahmed Gulak?
Gulak was a former aide of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan. Jonathan sacked him as his special adviser on political matters in April 2014.
Although no reason was given for his sack, he was alleged to be meddling in the affairs of some PDP states.
At the time, he had a running battle with Godswill Akpabio, then-governor of Akwa Ibom state and chairman of PDP Governors Forum.
Few days after he was dismissed from office, he resigned as the national coordinator of the Goodluck Support Group (GSG).
He once declared himself as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the party’s leadership crisis in January 2016.
Defection and political career in APC
In February 2018, Gulak defected from the PDP to the APC, citing “impunity” and “injustice” in the former as the reason for his departure.
“We have left the PDP with its entire structures in the state (Adamawa) to join the APC, so the PDP is destroyed and buried. We have also converted the party secretariat to (that of) APC,” he had said.
Gulak was chairman of the APC committee that conducted the primaries for Imo governorship election.
He had been declared missing after arriving in the state to supervise the exercise in October 2018.
Gulak later said he was “kidnapped” alongside members of the panel, and that he was offered $2 million to influence the outcome of the primaries.
He had also alleged that Rochas Okorocha, then-governor of Imo state, forced members of the electoral panel to declare Uche Nwosu, his favourite candidate, as the winner of the primary.
The APC national working committee (NWC) eventually cancelled the exercise after Nwosu was announced the winner.