A former governor of Kano State, Hamza Abdullahi, has died at the age of 73.
Mr Abdullahi died in a German Hospital after a brief illness.
Hadejia Emirate Council spokesperson, Talaki Mohammad, confirmed his death to journalists on Thursday.
Abdullahi was governor of old Kano State from January 1984 to August 1985 during the military regime of Muhammadu Buhari.
After Ibrahim Babangida took power, he was appointed Minister of Works and Housing, and later Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
He was born in Hadejia, Jigawa State.
Abdullahi attended the Nigeria Air Force Tactical Training Wing, Kaduna in 1964. He completed the Aircraft Technical Officer’s Course in West Germany (1964–1966), and studied at the Royal Military Training Centre in Chichester, England in 1974.
In July 1975, he was an air provost marshal, assisting in the coup that removed Yakubu Gowon from power.
He announced in January 1985 that his government was revitalising the expanded programme on immunisation, targeting children and pregnant women at risk from preventable diseases.
As Minister of Federal Capital Territory from 1986 to 1989, Abdullahi oversaw the construction of Phase 1 of Abuja.
At the time, he described the new city as “a symbol of our unity.”
He was promoted air vice-marshal in October 1988 and retired from the Nigerian Air Force two months later.
He left behind three wives, undisclosed number of children and grand children.
