Kano ex-governor, Abdullahi dies in Germany

Former governor of Kano State, Air Vice Marshal Hamza Abdullahi, is dead.

According to the Hadejia Emirate’s Twitter handle, Abdullahi died on Wednesday night in Germany. He was governor of old Kano State from January 1984 to August 1985 during the military regime of the then Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

After Gen. Ibrahim Babangida took power, Abdullahi was appointed Minister of Works and Housing, and later Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. He was born in Hadejia, Jigawa State.

The late 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, Abdullahi was air provost marshal and assisted in the coup that removed Yakubu Gowon from power. Abdullahi was appointed the governor of Kano State in January 1984.

In his reaction, the Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, said: “It is with sadness that I received news of the loss of AVM Hamza Abdullahi, former governor of Kano State and one-time minister of FCT. It was under his watch as minister that Abuja Phase 1 was constructed. May Allah SWT grant him Aljannah Firdaus.”