Asked about his last moments, Mahe responded thus: “What I can say is that he was doing fine until of recent. His death may be due to old age.”
Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto
Former President Shehu Shagari is dead. He died at the age of 93, on Friday, at about 6:20 pm, at the National Hospital Abuja. According to a family source, the nonagenarian died while receiving medication. His remains will to be flown to Sokoto, the state capital, today, for burial.
IBB condoles with Shagari family, urges politicians to emulate late president
Nurudeen Mahe, one of the former President’s grandsons who spoke with our correspondent in Sokoto, said the former President was flown to the hospital on Tuesday when his health condition deteriorated.
Asked about his last moments, Mahe responded thus: “What I can say is that he was doing fine until of recent. His death may be due to old age. On Tuesday, he was flown to Abuja for medication where he later died this evening.”
In a posting on his Twitter handle, the state governor, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal stated thus: “ I regret to announce the death of former President Shehu Shagari who just passed away at National Hospital, Abuja. May his Soul Rest in Peace.”
Spokesman of the National Hospital, Abuja, Tayo Haastrup, confirmed that the former President, Shehu Shagari, died in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the hospital on Friday afternoon after several effort by team of doctors to save his life.
He said: “He was surrounded by few family members when he died. His death was kept secret until late in the evening when all necessary confirmation have been made. His body was kept in the hospital pending the time of burial.”
Haastrup declined comment on the time of admission of the former President and the ailment which he was being treated.
Late Shagari was last seen in public in late November when members of Barewa Old Boys Association (BOBA) led by the chairman of the Association’s Centenary Celebration Committee, Dr Umar Abdulmutallab CON paid him a courtesy visit at his residence on Sama Road in the state capital.
The late former President who was also a member of the old boys association responded through his eldest son, Alhaji Bala Shagari by thanking the association while wishing them a successful stay in the state.
Born on February 25, 1925, Shagari served as the first Executive President of Nigeria in the Second Republic (1979–1983), following the handover of power by the military government under General Olusegun Obasanjo. But before then he had served as a cabinet minister and federal commissioner, respectively.