Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Saturday, separately held closed-door meetings with ex-Nigerian retired Generals, Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar at their uphill residences in Minna, Niger State.

Lawan arrived in Minna at about 1.30pm and first visited the residence of Abdulsalami before he went to that of Babangida.

His meeting with Abdulsalami took about 40minutes, while that with Babangida took about 30minutes.

Speaking to newsmen after he met with Abdulsalami, Lawan said that the two Nigerian leaders have a lot of roles to play in ensuring the unity and peaceful co-existence of Nigerians.

Lawan, who was accompanied by the Senator Sani Musa, said that he was in Minna on a sympathy visit to the former Head of State who was recuperating from an illness.

He stated further, ”as an elder statesman, it is necessary that the visit is made especially with the contributions Abdulsalami has made to the country.

“As our leader and elder statesman, we felt that it’s necessary that we make this visit today to come and sympathize with him and his family.

”We are grateful to God for the lives of our fathers and we pray that they recover completely.

”This is to enable them to continue with their good work of ensuring that Nigeria remains united and Nigerians live peacefully amongst themselves.”

Lawan, however, declined questions fielded on the 2023 general elections and politics as he claimed that ”he was only in the state for a private visit and not a political visit.”