The recent death of Ondo State Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, has taken Truth Live News to history book to revisit gallery of Nigerian Governors who died while in office.
Akeredolu became the third Nigerian governor to die while in office after the former Kaduna State Governor, Patrick Yakowa and ex-Governor Mamman Ali of Yobe State.
2017-2023: Rotimi Akeredolu, Ondo State:
Akeredolu had been out of office at least since June 2023 when he officially transferred power to Aiyedatiwa and proceeded on a 21-day medical leave in Germany.
The leave, which was supposed to end on July 6, 2023, was later extended indefinitely as the governor continued to receive treatment in Germany.
He later returned to Nigeria on September 6 and resumed at his private residence in Ibadan, Oyo State.
On December 11, Akeredolu wrote to the state Assembly that he was proceeding on another medical leave.
He died on 27 December, 2023.
2010-2012: Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa – Kaduna State, Kaduna State:
Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa served as governor of Kaduna State from 2010 to 2012 when he died in a helicopter crash. He was appointed deputy governor in July 2005, and returned as Kaduna number two citizen in the April 2007 election. He was sworn in as governor on 20 May 2010, succeeding former Governor Namadi Sambo who had been sworn in as vice president the day before.
Yakowa, 64, successfully ran for election as Kaduna Governor in the April 2011 poll and won. On December 15, 2012, Yakowa died in a helicopter crash along with the former National Security Adviser, General Owoye Andrew Azazi (rtd), while flying from Bayelsa State to Port Harcourt. They were returning from the funeral of Oronto Douglas’ father in Beyelsa when the incident occurred.
Others in the ill-fated helicopter crash were Dauda Tsoho and Mohammed Kamal, both aides, as well as the two pilots: Muritala Mohammed Daba and Adeyemi Sowole.
Yakowa’s deputy, Alhaji Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, was consequently sworn-in the following day as the state’s new governor by the state Chief Judge, Justice Rahila Cudjoe.
2007-2009: Mamman Bello Ali, Yobe State:
Mamman Bello Ali represented Yobe South Senatorial District between 1999 and 2007 and was the chairman senate committee on public account. He contested and won the governorship election in Yobe in 2007 under the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and was in office until his death in 2009. He died of leukemia while receiving treatment at a hospital in Florida, United States.