KANO — A FORMER Military Governor of old Kaduna State, AVM Mukhtar Mohammed (retd), has died in a London hospital at the age of 73, the family has confirmed.

A family source, Alhaji Lawal Musa, who confirmed the death to News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in Kano, yesterday, said Mohammed died on Sunday night after a long illness.
Musa said the corpse would be flown home for burial.

Mohammed was once Minister of Housing and Urban Development and a member of the Supreme Military Council in 1975. He was military governor of Kaduna State from 1978 to 1979.
Mohammed was a member of the National Constitutional Conference in 2014, a chieftain of Arewa Consultative Forum and the Chairman, Board of Directors of Freedom Radio, Kano. He is survived by a wife and six children.

Mourning the late Mohammed, President Muhammadu Buhari described him as one of the finest, most principled, patriotic and loyal military officers he had ever known and respected.

The President in a condolence message issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in Abuja yesterday, also described late Mohammed as a fountain of inspiration who loved the progress of Nigeria at all times.

He said: “AVM Mohammed was so passionately committed to his principles and beliefs that he had to leave his military career earlier than expected on account of those principles.

“Very few Nigerians are ready to lose their jobs or offices on account of their beliefs, but the late Mohammed was an exception to this ugly reality of Nigeria, a society where public office holders respect power more than principles.”

The President also recalled the significant role played by the late Air Force officer in the realisation of his people’s desire for the creation of the present Jigawa State.

He extended his condolences to the government, the family and people of Jigawa and Kano states over the loss of this illustrious public figure.