Former PDP Chairman Bamanga Tukur Buried in Yola, Days Before His 91st Birthday

The former Gongola governor and PDP national chairman, who died on Saturday at 90, was buried in Yola after funeral prayers at the Lamido’s Palace.

Yola, Adamawa State — Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, a former governor of the old Gongola State and one-time national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was laid to rest in Yola on Sunday, two days after his death at the age of 90.

Funeral prayers were held at 10am at the Lamido of Adamawa’s Palace in Yola, ahead of interment, in line with Islamic rites, according to family and state officials. Tukur died at his residence in Abuja on Saturday, three days before his 91st birthday.

President Bola Tinubu led national tributes to the late elder statesman, describing him as “urbane, generous and deeply rooted in the values of integrity and service that the Adamawa Emirate and the nation hold dear.”

Adamawa State Governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, called Tukur’s death a “monumental” loss and ordered three days of state mourning, with flags flown at half-mast across government institutions in the state.

The PDP, which Tukur chaired between 2012 and January 2014, described his passing as a “profound loss” to Nigeria’s political history.

Tukur’s public career spanned more than five decades. He served as General Manager of the Nigerian Ports Authority between 1975 and 1982, was governor of the old Gongola State for a brief period in 1983 before that year’s military coup, and later served as Minister of Industries under General Sani Abacha between 1993 and 1995. He was also a prominent businessman, having built a shipping and haulage business, and served as Executive President of the African Business Roundtable and chairman of the NEPAD Business Group. He held the traditional title of Tafidan Adamawa and was a recipient of the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).

He is survived by his family, business associates and a wide network of political allies across the PDP and beyond, many of whom joined dignitaries at Sunday’s burial in Yola.